<Don't try to free my body, Eve. Cromwell has seen to that. I need you to kill me.> The voice wasn't coming from Amber, but from Lil Nora.


Blinking at the instructions, Eve withdrew a bit, letting go of the tube. She recognized the source of the voice, and looked at the little girl, wide-eyed, then back to Amber's body. "...What?" She didn't want to *kill* anyone; she really wasn't sure she could! Her heart had started to pound once more. "What about you?"

<This isn't about me Eve, not anymore. The Daemon Lords cannot be allowed to consume another realm. Your realm. I have done all I can in assisting you by being able to send bits of my essence to both realms. One was taking over the dog; the other was the child called Lil Nora. I have become that glitch that will allow them to conquer even more realms, unless you stop it here. Stop it now, by killing me. Set me free. Undo what they have done even to you. Make Steele whole. Tohmaz and Argus are two sides of the same coin. >


"You can't be serious." But she was, and Eve knew it. Falling back a step, Eve braced her hands on the back of her hips, and glanced the way she'd come to make sure no one was slipping up on her. "I don't...I can't..." Forcing herself to stop and take a deep breath, she stepped back up to the table. "I don't know if I can do it." Even as she said it, Eve raised one hand, hovered it a few inches over Amber's chest. She knew *how* she could do it; those electro-pulses could play hell with the pulse. She figured at a high enough level, it would stop the heart altogether. "Oh my God, you can't expect me to..." She moved her hand, but to her credit, she didn't fall back. Freaking out, but it could have been worse.


"Noooo!" The scream seemed to be all around her, and a body came smashing through the wall to fall at her feet. The bloody broken form was that of Evan! A wave of pure force knocked Eve to the far end of the room, and Cromwell was preparing another spell with one hand, holding Steele by the neck with the other. "I shall tolerate you no more, little human!" A bolt of dark energy erupted from his hand, his target her, his aim true.

With what little reserve energy he had left, Evan used his TK ability to pull his body into the line of fire, locking eyes with Eve before it his body was burned into ashes.


And here, she'd been expecting soldiers; Eve had half-expected Cromwell had slithered off to whatever dark hole he called home until the clash was over with. Mistaken, anyone? "Evan!" The second she'd seen the form, she'd moved for it - only to get slammed back against the opposite wall the breath momentarily knocked from her body. Reflexively, she pulled both the mental and physical Shields into place (for whatever good they might have done now). Her eyes wide as she locked gazes with Evan, just before he turned to ash...

Eve screamed. It was a sound that shouldn't have come from a human; long and wordless, the kind of shriek a wounded, raging animal might have made. Her head hurt with that sound, and her vision momentarily faded out to a stark white brightness, so painful was the sensation ripping through her skull. The energy wasn't the rush of a stream anymore - it was the full on torrent of a river, carving new paths, taking anything in its path. With that scream, the concrete of the floor cracked and split, many of the piece upending themselves in jagged shards, and even the stone walls and ceiling crackled in protest with the energy she vented. Lights flickered and went out, some exploding outright, and the machine Amber's body was connected to was undoubtedly effected as well.

She'd stopped screaming, but by the looks of her expression, she wasn't much better off. Even as she climbed back to her feet from where she'd fallen, Eve made a swift motion in the air with one hand. It was a flash of light, almost blinding in the gloom, but she flashed it for the arm that held Steele, meaning to slice it wide open - or off altogether.


Steele fell to the ground, not moving, not at first. Cromwell laughed, and grew another limb. "You have limits, human. I have none. Your glass will break, your mirror will shatter!"

Amber had been freed from the machine, but she still lived. And if she lived, then Cromwell could still use her. It had to end here. Now. "It's not about killin' you frail. It's about killin' him!" The scanner was primed and set. Time for one shot, and no second chances. Putting it all on the line. All or nothing. Do or die. Every cliche one could think of right then. The shot was taken, and Cromwell dodged with ease. Not a problem, considering the true aim was the wall behind him; one that revealed the portal leading to the Daemon home realm.

Now Eve was faced with quite the choice: Destroy Cromwell, kill Amber and get her realm restored, or close off the portal. And the clock was ticking.


How exactly *did* one destroy a Daemon Lord? It was a question she'd never posed to Evan or Steele or Jared, though even they might not have known exactly. Eve wasn't foolish enough to believe she was a match for Cromwell, not by a longshot, but destroying him was preferable to killing Amber. Eve skittered for Amber's body, then lashed out at Cromwell again with another of those energy blasts - rather than a short burst, this one was sustained, held and expanded. The heat only grew in the blast until it was something easily visible, flickering and licking at the edges like a blue flame. Her free hand was searching for the tubes and wires on Amber to jerk them free so she could move the girl. Ripping several wires free, Eve glanced at them, then threw them at Cromwell. They were live once again, crackling and popping with their contained energy - until they touched something and let loose.


"Never send a girl to do a woman's job." The words were spoken while looking through a laser scope. Aim was taken, and the trigger pulled. Amber's skull exploded like an over ripe melon, just as Eve's attack struck the Daemon Lord.

The end results? Amber's death would stabilize the realms, repairing them. Cromwell became aware of the betrayal too late to stop the assault; just as Eve's attack sent a surge of energy through him, the Daemon Lord was sent falling back into the active portal. It wasn't primed for all that earthbound energy, and it caused a serious back-lash that vaporized Cromwell within seconds. The room grew brighter and brighter still, enveloping all within its brilliance until there was just ... nothing.


Eve had been turned to look at Cromwell, and turned back just as Amber's head..well...exploded. She staggered back, staring at the gory sight, only to realize that the awful image was fading fast. No, not fading - being blotted out the glow that was suffusing the room. It burned her eyes and forced her to close them, even to cover them with her arm. It was only when her shoulder bumped the wall that she realized she'd stumbled back more, and dared to open her eyes again. It felt like hours later, and though the glow as gone, her eyes stung. She hadn't even seen what happened to Cromwell, but she didn't Feel him; it was like a weight had been removed from her chest.

But Amber.... "What...?" Turning her head before her eyes could catch on the scene again, Eve took a deep breath...and dared to look around.

...Or she was *going* to look around. A noise beside her caught her attention; it should have been faint, but in the quiet of the room, it seemed horribly loud. Slowly, Eve turned her head to look toward Amber's body, her eyes catching on one of the girl's hands. The fingers lay still, outstretched...then abruptly curled tight, scratching deep rivulets into the steel table she lay on. Another sound began then, a bubbling gurgle, and Eve realized the body was *moving..*

That was more than she could take. The world spun into a blur around her, and Eve felt her chest tighten, felt the scream tear from her throat...

...The scream was terribly loud in the confines of the dimly lit bedroom; a bedside lamp was on, and she'd thrown off the sheets at some point. A cold sweat had broken out on her skin despite the black shorts and cami she was dressed in, and Eve sat upright in the bed, fingers curled tight into her palms. Breathing hard, she relaxed them slowly, and looked around. At least she recognized the place; the guest bedroom at Steele's place. Confusion set in quickly, and she noticed her hands were shaking as she rubbed her face, pressed her fingertips against her eyes. "Oh my God..." If that was a nightmare, it was one hxll of a bad dream.


A knock on the door, quickly followed by a familiar voice. "Yo, Elf, you alright in there?" It sounded like Steele, but was it Argus or Tohmaz?


She jumped at the voice, and looked up at the closed door. "Yeah, I'm - " Eve suddenly bolted out of the bed, skittering for the door. Opening it quickly, she peered up at him. Her curls were tumbled from sleep, and her cheeks were flushed from the effects of the dream. "Um...A nightmare. And it was a bad one...sooo...do me a favor? Tell me your name." Swallowing hard, knowing it was a weird question, Eve gave her head a shake. "I know, bizarre, but just...humor me. Please?" That...could tell her a lot. She could tell where the nightmare ended; but where did it *begin?*


Steele was still soaked with water from having just finished a shower when he heard the scream. He'd knocked on the door with nothing but a towel around his waist. "Um, tell you my name? It's Steele." He did thingy his head to one side though.


Okay, so now the color in her cheeks wasn't *just* from the nightmare; so it hadn't *all* been bad... "Yeah, I *know* that part. Your full name, I mean?" Full of nervous energy now, Eve raised up onto her tip toes before bouncing back down onto her soles. "I just...Ever had those nightmares that leave you a little unsure of everything? I did. So I just...need to know that." Didn't make sense. Eve shook her head at herself, hoping he'd just relent and humor her.


"Mmm. Tohmaz A. Steele." Giving her a look once again. "Well, are you okay long enough for me to go dry off, then we can chat about this nightmare that's bugging you?"


"Um...yeah. But...what's the A for?" Questions, questions. Eve didn't really feel like talking about it because it made her sound insane, but at the moment, she was *feeling* pretty insane. It was hard to find something to ground herself, something to hold onto. To figure out where one nightmare stopped and another began.


Now he just stopped and looked at her. Before he could answer, the phone rang. "Gotta get that, it's been ringing off the hook all night." A quick peck on her lips, and off he went to take the call,
pausing long enough to look at her over his shoulder. "It's Argus, and let's not have this memory problem any more, okay?" With a smirk on his face to say he was joking, and he went into the other room.

The volume of the downstairs television was loud enough for her to pick up on bits and pieces of the news bulletin. Something about a fire at Stonebridge Institution...


The peck to her lips made her blink, just a little surprised, but she could only nod when he said his middle name. Argus. Well, she'd been *hoping* he'd say that. Eve sighed, leaning against the doorframe for a moment, relaxing. Well...the screwiest thing would be to find out that it *wasn't* a nightmare. Something about killing Amber was supposed to reset reality, wasn't it? Squeezing her eyes shut, she pressed her forehead against her hand, then gave it up and headed down the hall, heading for the kitchen for a drink. She caught a few snippets of what was being said on the TV. A fire at Stonebridge? "About time. That place was a firetrap..."


<...And we repeat, last night's fire at Stonebridge started in the lower levels. There was no personnel present, only unused rooms. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. And in other news ...>

There was a jacket hanging from the back of a chair, all black, with a military-styling to it. On the sleeve were the letters P.S.A. On the front right upper pocket was her last name, Lizt.

Stopping, she had to give the TV a long look at that, narrow-eyed. That was just a bit *too* close, wasn't it? Taking a deep breath, Eve released it slowly, then took a moment to look at that jacket. She even went so far as to pick it up, checking the size idly. The fit looked about right... Just wasn't NWI; different name, now. "Okay." Murmured to herself before she went to check the fridge for something worth drinking. Here was hoping he was less on the beer and diet stuff than the last couple times...


Half the fridge was stocked with things she liked, the other half his. Ready for the next shocker? Getting manly arms wrapped about her waist, and being given a very affectionate squeeze before letting her go. "You feeling better now, babe? I know you don't like talking about your nightmares, and you don't like to sleep because you have them. But that scream wasn't the result of any normal nightmare, was it? "

Dressed in a grey sweat shirt, black baggy cargo pants and boots, Steele gave her a swat on the arse before raiding the fridge himself, grabbing a bottle of ... apple juice.


Checking out the selection and a bit surprised - she'd never seen that much stuff in Steele's fridge before, and all of it edible! - Eve had been reaching for a bottle of orange juice when the arms had come around her. Reflex said to break the grasp, and she'd actually been reaching for one of the hands when it dawned on her. Duh. Steele had broken the grasp by then, and she finished reaching for the juice. "Yeah, a bit." She broke the seal and had a drink, but almost choked on it when he slapped her on the bum. The young woman recovered with a cough, and gave her head a shake. Wow, but that took getting used to... "This one was bad. I can't...I mean, with all of my nightmares, I can differentiate where it begins and ends and everything. This one...I can't. Not to mention that it's playing hell with my perception and memory so..." Eve made a gesture with the hand the held the juice, leaning gently against the counter. Apple juice. She'd probably never seen him drink anything *good* for him before.. "I feel like I'm missing something." A shrug and sigh. "And I'm sure that doesn't make much sense at all."


Across the street, sitting on the roof top, a figure replaced a pair of high-tech binoculars to a duffle bag. She had seen enough for now. Dusting the dirt from her knees, the duffle bag was slung onto a shoulder, the baseball cap tugged down over her face. Sunglasses were placed back on as she made her way down the fire escape, all the way down to where her car had been parked. Popping a fresh piece of bubble gum into her mouth, the car alarm was deactivated and started. Seconds later, she was own her way out of town, with Steele's place becoming smaller and smaller still in the rear view mirror.

Eve X threw the car into second gear, and was soon gone down the highway.