LA, Friday Evening
It was pretty hard to find a good place for a portal in a city like Los Angeles, outside of an actual Portalocity hub. It helped that this was Marvel not an entirely mundane kind of LA (if such a thing existed anywhere in the multiverse), but still, Karolina had found a place that worked, even if it wasn't perfect. This park didn't have a lot of people in it once it started getting dark. It worked.
So here were Karolina and Nico, walking along to the slightly more secluded part where they were supposed to welcome Liara to Los Angeles for the weekend. The rest were supposed to come meet up with them here - they'd split up to do shopping in teams of two. Also, Karolina hadn't wanted to overwhelm Liara.
... Or get overwhelmed herself. This was making her a little more nervous than she would've admitted, although she was pretty sure Nico could tell. The other girl looked pretty curious. Almost amused.
And then they were there. And then there was a portal.
Liara
And, a few moments later, there was a girl.
A blue girl in blue jeans and a green long-sleeved shirt and an intensely red and not-at-all awkward-looking beanie hat pulled down over her crest so tightly you could almost see the cartilage trying to break through it in the back.
"...Hello!"
Karolina
Karolina gave her a dorky little wave. Because reasons. Then she stepped forward. "Hi! How was your trip? At least Portalocity didn't lose you or anything."
Nico decided to hang back for the moment. To assess the newcomer, maybe. Or just to give Karolina some space to greet her guest for a sec.
Liara
"It was... interesting," Liara said. "I did not realize that common human household items could be so... belligerent."
She took a few steps forward as well and... went in for a slightly awkward hug.
She'd missed Karolina. A bit.
Karolina
The hug wasn't quite as awkward from Karolina's side. She'd missed her too. A bit. Maybe more than that.
"... Wait, what?"
Liara
Liara leaned back. "There were kitchen utensils and appliances," she said, frowning. "They... danced. Belligerently."
Karolina
"That's... new." Yeah, Kar, your raised eyebrows probably said that already. "That's definitely not normal."
But what was normal, anyway?
Liara
"I was warned about Portalocity," Liara said, giving Karolina's hand one squeeze while they were still relatively close. "It did not make the experience any less bewildering."
She looked over Karolina's shoulder at her friend. "So this is your home."
Well, not exactly...
Kar & Nico
"This is Los Angeles," Karolina replied with a little smile, now pulling back to actually include Nico in things. Right, personal greeting time over. "And that's Nico."
The girl's arms were folded across her chest. She nodded at Liara in greeting. "Hey."
Liara
"Hello," Liara said, serious and completely earnest. "Thank you for having me."
Sigh.
Nico & Kar
Nico shrugged. "Karolina's friends are our friends too." Even if she was still... kind of eyeing Liara like she was sizing her up.
Something which did not escape Karolina's notice. "Nico, it's okay."
Nico glanced at her, then sighed and let her posture relax some. "Sorry," she told Liara. Vaguely. "Welcome to LA. Kar says you've never been."
Liara
"I have not been to a great many places on your planet," Liara said. She was... trying to sound respectful. "LA will be the second city in your United States I have visited."
The first one being... well, Fandom, actually. Just Fandom.
Karolina
"We should go to DC sometime," Karolina replied. "I mean, the one in this universe. Where you might not stand out as much. Right, Nico?"
Nico... had stopped paying attention. Sorry about that. She was looking up at the sky. Squinting up, actually. At a shooting star, except it actually wasn't one.
Liara
"Are there many different species in DC?" Liara asked. Her back was to the star, or, well, the back of her head was anyway and the beanie didn't leave her a great field of vision.
Kar & Nico
"Well, it's the east coast," Karolina shrugged. "I think there's plenty of everything."
"That star," Nico murmured, still looking up. "It's getting bigger." That got Karolina to turn and look up. Her eyes widened. That -- probably wasn't a star, was it? And it was getting bigger, because it was getting closer.
And heading right at them.
Liara
Liara turned around abruptly. "That is not a star," she said, her eyes widening. "Does your world have a great deal of spacecraft--? Because if that is a falling satellite, I suggest we run."
Karolina
That was exactly what Karolina was already intending to do, reaching for Liara's hand. Whatever it was that was coming at them from the sky, though, it was fast.
And then it was right there, and it stopped. It was a small spacecraft, and it stopped to hover in the air right in front of them.
"Whoa," Karolina breathed. "Is that one of Excelsior's ships?" Nico wondered. The ship landed smootly, sending a gust of air at them, and Karolina shook her head. "I don't think so. It looks like it's from --" She glanced over at Liara. "-- out of town."
Liara
Liara's eyes darted towards Karolina's. "Does that mean you recognize it?" she asked.
She sounded wary. She could defend herself if it was necessary, but she would rather-- not.
… This dude?
Karolina shook her head. Before she had time to say anything else, the craft's hatch began to open, steam pouring out. And then someone stepped out. A young man, dark skinned, fairly pleasant features, wearing a skintight jumpsuit.
And he said, "Hello, Karolina."
Karolina's eyes widened. She had most definitely not been expecting that. "How... how do you know my name?"
"Your name?" he asked in return. He seemed amused by her confusion. Not in a malicious way. Just like maybe she should have already known these things. "I followed your energy signature all the way from the Andromeda galaxy. I know you better than anyone."
That was a weird thing to say. On several points, and Karolina instinctively glanced at Liara again, as if she had any of the answers when she'd never even been in their world before. "Andromeda...?"
Liara
"It is a galaxy roughly 2.5 million light years from Earth," Liara said. "I assume he used a very long-range mass relay of some sort to get here."
That... wasn't what Karolina was asking, no. But in Liara's defense, she was struck by the thought that this meant there may be some way to get home.
Kar & Random Dude
That was not what Karolina had been asking. It was a reassuringly Liara-like reply anyway. But not everyone was reassured. "What do you want with Karolina, Captain Jumpsuit?" Nico demanded to know.
"I want to take her away from this godforsaken ball of water."
... Right. Maybe it was all the fighting experience over the past month or two, but Karolina's bracelet came off in about a second after she'd heard that statement. She glowed and sparkled, but there was a look of determination on her face. "You're not taking me anywhere." And she pushed her hand out, firing a bolt of energy at the man, hoping to knock him down so he'd know she wasn't about to go quietly. But he made no move. It was as if there was an invisible shield around him.
"Glorious," he said, as if he was pleased with the attack, "but careful of the ricochet." The force of Karolina's energy bounced off the shield... and straight at Nico, hitting her squarely in the chest, making her fall limply to the ground.
Karolina rushed to her immediately. "Nico!"
Liara
It would be many decades before Liara's first instinct in these situations would be to go for her biotics. But with Karolina minding her friend already, she felt it was likely her job to deal with the new arrival.
"You cannot be serious," she said, offended. "You cannot just swoop in and take whoever you like!"
… Wait he's a Skrull?
"And I'm not," he replied calmly, exhibiting only mild interest in the... whatever lifeform was addressing him right now. He'd never seen anyone who looked like Liara, but he also didn't care much.
He considered Karolina who was still kneeling beside Nico and making sure she was breathing okay. "But perhaps her parents told her to expect my true form." Yeah, letting his form ripple into the semi-reptilian look of a Skrull? Totally helped things. Right?
Okay Karolina was kind of staring now.
Liara
"I do not believe she was expecting you at all," Liara snapped.
For once, irritation was clearly visible in both her expression and her tone. "I suggest you leave."
Kar & Xavin, apparently
Xavin kept his calm. Even if he looked a bit disdainful. "I am not going to do that."
"What makes you think I'll go anywhere with you," Karolina snapped, still kneeling, "after you hurt Nico?"
"Forgive me, I never meant to damage it." That 'it' being Nico. He shook his head. "Karolina, my name is Xavin. Did they really not speak to you of the arrangement between our homeworlds? I'm not your enemy. I'm your fiancé."
... Karolina was sorry, but she was going to be doing some more staring. About now. "W-what?"
Liara
Liara's response involved rather less hesitation or staring, though the word was the same. "What."
Hopefully nobody was going to mind the little crackle of blue energy leaping from her shoulder down her arm.
Xavin & Kar
Only if no one was going to mind that Xavin's hand seemed to be on fire. Like it actually had been for a moment now. And he didn't even mean to be threatening with it. Meanwhile, Karolina was finally getting to her feet - or, indeed, a foot off the ground as the case was with her powers and levitation. Nico was still out of it, but at least she was breathing. She'd come to. "What are you?"
Xavin seemed incredulous. "What do you mean, what am I? I'm a Skrull, Karolina. From the planet Tarnax VII? I..." And then he looked at his flaming hand. "Oh, you mean this?"
She had not.
"Yeah, I'm a Super Skrull... Or I will be, once my training is complete. Right now, I can really only control one cosmic element at a time, but I'm getting better every day, you know?"
He actually sounded... like a kid, for some of that. But it didn't really reassure Karolina, especially when he tried to come closer to her. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
Shut up, this called for bad language.
Liara
"I suggest you stay where you are until we have gotten to the bottom of this!"
Liara: not afraid to back that up with gravity warping if she had to.
Xavin & Kar
"Karolina, tell your pet to be quiet and stop meddling," Xavin said with a look of slightly more pronounced disdain at Liara. It softened, mostly, when he directed his attention at Karolina again. "Is my English that bad?" he asked, when she was still staring at him. "I know 'Super Skrull' sounds sort of pompous in your language, but I swear that the Skrullos translation is was less stuck-up. Anyway, I promise I'll take you to a really good language tutor after our honeymoon."
Karolina couldn't deal with this. She was several feet off the ground now, and seriously just considering grabbing Liara and flying away. "Get away from me, you freak!"
"Ewe'fareek is my uncle, Karolina," Xavin told her, calmly. The flame around his hand went out. "My name is Xavin." His hand shot out towards her - and his arm stretched out, way, like it was made of rubber, and it twisted around her in an instant, stopping her in place. "I told you, I'm going to be your husband."
Liara
This was about as far as Liara was willing to take it - being called a pet, watching Karolina being treated that way? No. Absolutely not. Unacceptable.
"I am not a pet. I have a name!" she snapped, hurling a warp at him without-- well, not without thinking. He had a shield. A warp was shifting mass effect fields. They could not be bounced because they were fields, so they either fizzled or they worked, and they would do so in a prolonged fashion. A warp was supposed to help break shields down. So-- this was strategy, correct?
She had never really been in open battle before. She was still willing to give it a good try.
Like half the group, yay
Well, it certainly got Xavin's attention! And did something to his shield, which made him snarl because he didn't have the patience for this. But, his annoyance at his weakening shield together with something else made him let go of Karolina. And that 'something else' was Victor, showing up with Molly in tow. "Put her down!" he called out. "I'm talking to you, Mr. Less-Than-Fantastic!"
... Okay, Victor. "'Mr. Less-Than-Fantastic'?" Molly asked, because with these people it was never not a good time to judge someone else's quips. "You're stretching more than he is."
"Quiet, Molly."
"That voice," Xavin said, releasing Karolina awho immediately flew to Liara's side. "You're an android, aren't you? You machines exist to cook and clean, not crack wise." He glanced over at Karolina again. "Karolina, have your underlings no respect?"
"What? They're not my underlings!" Karolina yelled, but Victor was already trying to shoot electricity at him. And that just got Victor himself floating in the air inside... some kind of an energy bubble. "Xavin! Let him go! Liara!"
Well, it had seemed like her stuff had at least done something, and Karolina herself was still hesitant to risk trying anything with her energy lest it bounce back at any of the others.
Liara
Xavin's powers weren't anything Liara knew, per se, but in some ways they were familiar-- she didn't know how to break that bubble but she could pull it towards them-- get Victor safe.
"If you do not let him go right now," she yelled with more bravado than she was feeling, "I will ignite a biotic explosion and blow you across the planet!"
She wasn't sure where that had come from. Perhaps she had been watching too much human television of late.
Xavin, Kar, Gert (YAY, GERT)
Xavin shook his head, but let go of Victor who fell to the ground with a thud and a yelp, but was otherwise unharmed. "Threatening me is unwise," Xavin said, stalking forwards towards Liara, his arm turning into stone as he pulled back, ready for a punch.
"No!" Karolina yelled, moving in front of Liara with a whoosh of air. "Stop it! These people are my friends!"
That seemed to jolt Xavin out of his aggression. His mouth fell open. "Friends?" he asked, his voice honestly confused. His features turned human again. "You mean your parents let you have --"
He crumpled to the ground mid-sentence, having just been hit in the back of his head by the Leapfrog, materializing out of thin air behind him. The hatch was already open, and there was Gert, standing next Old Lace.
"Ribbit," she said.
Liara
... Liara knew that face.
Her head jerked up to meet that realization head on - so to speak - and she wobbled a little in place. Had she really just done that?
"...Gert," she said. That was the human's name. Gert.
Gert & Kar
"Correct," Gert replied, with a raised eyebrow. "So I guess you must be Liara." And not another random person threatening people like the one currently knocked out under the Leapfrog. This conclusion was further solified when Karolina floated back over to Liara, now carrying the still mostly unconscious Nico in her arms. "Liara? Are you okay?"
Chase's voice came on over the loudspeaker. "Okay, ramblers, let's get rambling! We've got po-po incoming!"
Liara
"I am fine," Liara said, though she did still seem a little unsteady. "We should get out of here."
She should probably sound more panicked, but-- she couldn't.
Kar & Gert
"Yeah, we should," Karolina agreed, nudging her towards the Leapfrog... okay, kind of with Nico's legs, but she probably got the point. She was already heading into the craft herself.
"Who is this goon, Karolina?" Gert asked as they were boarding, indicating towards Xavin, still passed out on the ground. "One of Swarm's henchmen?"
Karolina shook her head. "No, Gert. He's... he's an extraterrestrial. Like us." She nodded towards Liara. And boy was it kind of nice to be able to say that, even if it was under these circumstances. "He said that we're engaged. Sounds like my parents set up some kind of arranged marriage for us."
... Yeah, the circumstances kind of sucked.
Gert scoffed. "Figures. Even when they're dead, they still find ways to make you suffer." She rolled her eyes, then nodded at Liara. "Hey. Welcome to LA." There was a definite wry tone to that.
Liara
"Thank you."
No wry tone at all. Liara sounded downright earnest.
As soon as she'd boarded, she reached up and rubbed at her forehead. She felt a little woozy, come to think of it. It was rather impeding her ability to ask questions, which considering the situation-- "Ohh."
Karolina
Karolina put Nico down in a seat and let Victor fuss over her. It looked like she was coming to, finally. Good. Karolina looked up. "Liara? Are you okay?"
Chase was already getting the Leapfrog cloaked up and zooming up into the sky. Didn't need to get caught by the police.
Liara
"I am just a little woozy," Liara said. The look she granted Karolina was vaguely embarrassed. "I have never-- done that before. I may need to lay down."
Karolina
"You should sit down," Karolina replied, immediately coming over to take her by a shoulder. The had enough seats to go around. "Whatever you did, it was pretty impressive."
Liara
Liara sank down into a chair as soon as she had the option. She stared down at her hands. "My biotics," she said. "I have never put as much energy into it before."
Karolina
In the background, Nico was coming to, with Victor and Molly filling her in on what she'd missed, while she rubbed at her temples. Karolina paid them no mind right now.
"Is there anything I can get you?" she asked. "I mean, uh, not that we have a lot of stuff in here, and we kind of lost our shopping back there. But, for when we get back to the Hostel?"
Liara
"A glass of water will suffice," Liara said. She was rubbing at her own temples. "And perhaps some quiet-- once we get to your Hostel."
Karolina
"I can get you both," Karolina promised, putting a hand on her shoulder and offering her a very small smile. "We'll be right there. We need to move fast anyway, to get away from that creep back there, so... we'll be right there."
Spoken like an optimist.
Liara
"Thank you," Liara said quietly.
After a moment of deliberation, she slid an arm around Karolina's waist - at least partly to maintain her own balance.
Karolina & the Leapfrog
Karolina approved of this decisioneven if this was really no time to be thrilled to be so close to Liara.
No really, it wasn't. Because suddenly, there was a voice: "Danger! Danger! Be advised, pursuing ship has us on missile lock."
Karolina blinked. "Was that - did the Leapfrog just talk?"
(Over by the controls, Chase asked the same question. The Leapfrog informed him it was indeed able to speak - in roughly five thousand languages.)
"... Wait, did it say something about missiles?
Liara
"...Can you take evasive maneuvers?!"
Liara was still woozy, but now she was also on alert - and spouting the only thing she'd ever heard in vids in reaction to that.
Everyone
Before anyone had a chance to respond, the Leapfrog spoke up again. "Standby, enemy craft is opening a hailing frequency."
And then there was Xavin's already-familiar voice. "Your cloaking is worthless against my ship's scanners, Karolina," he said, calm but assertive. Like he meant business, even if it was unpleasant business. "Set down your vehicle, or I'm afraid I'll have to blow it and you out of the sky."
Victor shook his head. "He's bluffing. He wouldn't risk hurting his fiancée. He's just --"
A giant boom rocked the entire craft, tilting the entire thing sideways until Chase got it back under control, and knocking them all off their seats. Maybe Xavin wasn't bluffing after all.
Liara
Liara spat out one or two unflattering things in her mother tongue she hoped didn't have an Earth equivalent, because if her translation matrix parsed those-- well.
They were terribly unflattering.
Her face hurt. Stupid floor.
Everyone
Karolina's butt could have been doing better, too. The floor was stupid and way too hard.
Molly glared at Victor, like it was his fault this had happened. "Way to go, jinx."
"That was a warning shot," Xavin's voice informed them. "Next one won't be." His tone took a turn for the... Well. Ever so slightly more pleading. But it was really slight. "Please, I just want to talk to you, Karolina."
"I'm here, dammit!" Karolina snapped, while she was picking herself up off the floor, and giving Liara a hand to do the same. "Talk!"
"No, face to face." Of course. "Meet me on the roof of the cylindrical structure near Hollywood and Vine."
"Screw that," Nico said, frowning hard. "Let's turn on the afterburners and outrun this herb." But now Karolina was hesitating. She never could hold on to anger for too long. "Nico, wait." She chewed on her lip as she cast a hesitant glance towards Liara. "Maybe... maybe we should hear him out?"
Otherwise he might just keep coming.
Liara
Liara was swiftly finding she had no such fast-cooling tendencies. In fact, she was swiftly finding that she did, in fact, have a temper.
She pushed up off the floor. "Do we have any weapons on this thing?!"
Kar, Chase, Xavin
Karolina's eyebrows bounced. "Liara --"
But she didn't get further. Chase was the expert on all things 'Frog, so he thought it best to cut in. "Last time we used the lasers, they drained damn near all the juice we had left," he called back a reply. "And I haven't tested them since! We're not in a great spot for crash landing, I say we bail."
And then Xavin, again. He'd been listening, of course. "Leave me if you must, my love, but do... and everyone on this planet will die." And he sounded almost resigned to it, like it wasn't a threat but a fact. And Karolina felt it squeezing at her insides uncomfortably for a moment, pulling her brow down into a deep, worried frown.
Until she made a decision. "Chase, Capitol Records. Land us."
Liara
Liara grasped the side of a chair and pushed herself onto her feet. "You must be joking," she said, staring at Karolina.
Goddess. This entire voyage had been insane.
Karolina
Well, like they'd said, welcome to LA. Life here for superpowered teenagers veered very rarely towards any semblance of sanity. "I'm not," Karolina replied, more firmly than she tended to speak most of the time. "I want to find out exactly what the deal is here."
There had to be a reason why Xavin had just said what he'd said.
Liara
"I would advise against it!" That... much was obvious, Liara. However, she made no other moves to stop Karolina; she was too busy holding onto that seat for dear life.
This was a lot of excitement for her at this age, at least.
Kar & Nico
"I know, Liara," Karolina replied. "But I need to know."
"Are you insane?" Nico demanded. Enough of an outburst that it made Karolina look just a little sheepish. But just a little. "I'm sorry, Nico... But, um, this is about me. So I'm making the call."
Chase just shrugged and got them descending towards the Capitol Records building. And as he did, Xavin's voice came over the system again. "Thank you."
Karolina chewed on her lip and said nothing.
Liara
Liara's eyes narrowed slightly.
There was some pent-up pigheadedness brewing in her chest that she was biting down on for the sake of-- well, she couldn't call it politeness. That would involve being considerate towards the party that had forced them into this situation, and she couldn't quite manage that.
She righted herself, fighting against the woozy feeling in her mind.
She looked to Karolina, silent.
Karolina
And Karolina stood and looked at the floor. She looked determined, though thoughtful. Nico was still grumbling, and Molly was offering her own doubts about the situation, but she didn't really listen.
As they touched down on the roof of the building, she held a hand out towards Liara.
Liara
Liara let out a deep sigh. Part of her was still mulishly angry and wanted nothing to do with this, and so it was only after a moment of visible hesitation that she took Karolina's hand.
Kar, Xavin, Gert
Karolina gave her what she hoped was a brief reassuring smile, and squeezed her hand.
And then they'd landed, and the hatch hissed open, and Karolina tugged Liara along with her, the first ones out though everyone else followed close behind. Xavin was there already, in front of his own craft. He looked human again. He spread his arms, a non threatening gesture. "Karolina, can't... can't we have a moment alone?"
Karolina shook her head. "Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of them."
"And feel free to turn all green and scaly," Gert added, Old Lace growling quietly next to her, "but I'm warning you right now, that routine doesn't exactly scare us."
Liara
"I do suggest you choose your words - and actions - carefully," Liara agreed. Her voice didn't lend herself particularly well to aggressiveness, and with her temper under control, it sounded more like a general statement than a threat.
She kept her grip on Karolina. Perhaps to make a point.
Xavin & Kar
"Right," Xavin said. His gaze dipped down to their joined hands for a second. He didn't look like he knew what to make of it. But, his attention focused on Karolina. "First of all, I apologize for my... outburst," he said. "Your customs are still unfamiliar to me." Understatement. "I hail from a distant outpost of the Skrull Empire. Fifteen years ago, my father, Prince De'zean, led an invasion against Earth. He was stopped by your parents, Karolina."
"My parents?" Karolina asked. It didn't seem to fit in with her idea of her parents as... well, evil. They'd saved Earth? "How?"
"In exchange for sparing their adopted home, your mother and father revealed coordinates of a much more valuable target... Majesdane, your parents' birth planet, which had exiled them for criminal activities decades ago." Xavin didn't look like he was judging, or anything. Just delivering the facts, though he knew they were unpleasant. "Father had been looking to plunder that mythical world for years, and your parents divulged that it was hidden beneath the corona of a white dwarf."
Karolina didn't realize she'd started gripping Liara's hand tighter. "My mom and dad lived in a star?"
Xavin nodded. "As assurance that the coordinates Leslie and Frank Dean gave were real, your parents offered my parents their only child's hand in marriage."
So there it was. "And now you're here to collect on your folks' sick agreement?" Nico snapped. Because it was only so long that she could keep quiet especially in a situation like this. She sounded pissed. Xavin didn't seem to take too much offence, although his expression turned softer. There was sadness in it, Karolina thought. "My 'folks' are dead," he said. "They were both killed in the bloody war that's been raging between Tarnax VII and Majesdane for the last fifteen years."
Karolina turned a little paler. Fascinating on someone who was currently covered in shifting colours, really.
Liara
Liara's eyes darted briefly to Karolina's face. She could already glean her state of mind from the death grip on her hand, but...
She wasn't sure how she felt at this present moment.
"It is clear your coordinates were accurate then, and no assurance is required," she said, her gaze flicking back to Xavin. "Why are you here?"
The Group
Xavin must have accepted Liara's status as some kind of an equal entourage member of Karolina's by now, because he actually acknowledged the question, and with the same tone he'd used with Karolina herself. "Because the war is still going on," he said. "And I'm looking for solutions. I'm beginning to suspect that Karolina's family never thought I would live long enough to return for her. By sending my father's army to the world that had betrayed them, her parents must have imagined that both planets would end up annihilating each other... which they very nearly have."
Nico was still looking annoyed. No, angry. Her tone said she was angry. "But if your old man was some royal leader, doesn't that mean you're in charge now?" she asked. "Can't you stop the fighting?"
"I could surrender the Imperial Skrull Army, but there's no guarantee that the Majesdane Light Brigade wouldn't annihilate my troops once we laid down our arms."
"No offense, but you guys attacked first," Victor chimed in, pointing at Xavin. "Why should we care if Karolina's peeps wipe out your evil empire?"
"Because once the Skrulls are defeated,"Xavin replied solemnly, "the Majesdanians will likely destroy Earth, as retaliation for your planet's role in starting the war."
This was where Karolina managed to get a word out again. Two of them, a burst: "That's insane!"
"Indeed," Xavin agreed, turning his gaze back to her. "This is a mindless conflict being fought between the adults of each world, but there are youths on both sides who have known nothing but bloodshed their entire lives, and they are eager for an end to the war. By returning with you as my Majesdanian bride, it is my hope that we can together unite our peoples and bring peace to the quadrant." He sounded sincere. And then he moved closer to Karolina and Liara. And... got down on one knee in front of the former, holding out a hand for her free one. He looked up at her. "I implore you, Magnificent One... will you marry me?"
Karolina stared. A lot. Yes, she knew there was an arranged marriage thing behind all this, but it was still a different thing to actually get proposed to. Especially when Xavin was suddenly looking so imploringly up at her. She didn't know what to say. So Molly broke the silence for her, brightly, by asking, "Does that mean Karolina's gonna be a princess?"
Liara
Yes, that was...
Well. That was...
Logic stated that...
What would her mother do? Surely Benezia would know the right thing to say!
Liara's mouth opened, then shut a few times. Silence. She'd... Yes.
The Group
Nico wasn't speechless, surprising no one. "No, Molly, it means she's going to be a hostage," she argued, turning towards Karolina like she was expecting her to have the answer. The right, acceptable answers. "This is stupid, K. He's just trying to use you as a human shield, 'cause he knows your people won't risk hurting one of their own."
"That's not true!" Xavin argued as he stood up again, visibly agitated for the first time. Karolina helped up her free hand, to calm him down. Not just him, but everyone. "She's right, Xavin," she said. "I can't marry you... but not because I don't believe you. I can't do it because it'd be a lie." She glanced at Liara and chewed her lip, then added, "I like girls."
Behind them, Chase gasped, as if he was just now figuring this out.
But Xavin didn't see this as too much of a challenge. The look on his face brightened. "Is that all that's stopping you?" he asked. "Karolina, Skrulls are shapeshifters. For us, changing gender --" And again, he changed in front of their eyes. Except this time, he stayed human, but turned into a she. (And she was pretty.) "-- is no different than changing hair color."
Karolina ended up staring again. But this time, she wasn't without words for long, even if they were halting. She looked at Liara again, and then at Xavin. "But uh, that's not the whole problem, because I, um... I like a specific girl in particular?"
Liara
That was a cue if she'd ever heard one to make some kind of-- solid proclamation, some statement of intent. So Liara, of course, opened her mouth and said, "Technically speaking, I am not a girl, as my species only knows one gender."
... what. Xavin had explained about their species, it would only help negotiations if they were all on the same...
... nevermind.
"...But I have been - I believe the word is - 'dating' Karolina for some time. Whatever claim you feel you have is based on old information, not to mention a lack of consent."
There. Better.
Xavin
"This is not about dating," Xavin replied, probably mostly grasping the meaning of the word, if not entirely. "This is about the continued survival of several worlds."
And it was getting to Karolina. She felt a little woozy, if she was honest. But she said nothing. Just held on to Liara's hand tightly.
Xavin looked at her again. "Please, you don't have to say yes just yet, but at least take a trip with me. Let me show you that the things I'm saying are true. Let me take you to your home."
Home? What did that even mean?
Liara
Liara frowned. She... wasn't sure what to say. So she turned to Karolina, squeezing her hand. "What do you want?"
Kar & Nico
Karolina chewed on her lip again as she looked over at Liara. Like she wasn't sure, even though she was feeling more and more sure by the second. Majesdane's call was too strong to ignore. "I... I think I want to go."
Nico's mouth fell open. "What? Karolina, no!"
"Nico, people are dying." And they were her people. She hadn't even thought she'd have people like that anymore. Not that it appeased Nico. The girl looked furious, even as everyone else looked confused. "That's not your fault!"
"No, it's my mom and dad's fault," Karolina replied, shaking her head. "And I thought the whole point of our group was trying to make up for our parents' mistakes, right?" She turned back to Liara. "Even if it's hard."
Liara
Liara met Karolina's eyes.
"I would not put it as such," she said. Her relationship with Benezia was... a great deal more complicated than that. "But then I am not a part of your group."
Perhaps she was talking around the decision on purpose now. Her chest hurt.
Karolina
Karolina had more meant to include her in the pain rather than the group reasoning. She knew this would've hurt whether there was a Liara involved or not - but she was also sure it would've hurt less if she'd never met her.
But somehow maybe it wasn't a bad kind of pain. "I know," she said. "But you're my... friend." It was obvious she didn't think that was the right word. "I'm sorry, Liara."
Xavin was already turning to head back to his -- her craft.
Liara
"Are you sure this will be safe?"
The words came out in a rush. Liara was alarmed to find her voice was cracking.
Karolina
Karolina sighed, with a shudder, and still tried to offer an encouraging smile. "No, I'm not." She shook her head. "There's a war on. But I might be able to help stop it."
She was used to things not being safe by now, anyway.
Liara
Liara was silent for a moment - she didn't match Karolina's smile.
"Are you coming back?" she asked at last.
Karolina
Karolina's smile faded mostly away, too. "I don't know," she admitted. Even if it was more for the war part than any immediate desire to stay forever with people she hadn't even met yet. "I hope so."
Liara
"Ah," Liara said.
Don't go, she wanted to say, but the voice of her mother was in her head yelling at her about how uncivilized and selfish that would be.
She bit down on her lower lip. "Then I suppose this is goodbye."
Goodbyes
"But not for a couple more minutes."
Not that that was any real comfort, but it was the best Karolina could offer. There was a certain kind of calm about her, now that she'd made up her mind. The decision had been made and now all that was left was going through with it.
She pulled her hand gently away from Liara's grasp so she could do her round of other goodbyes, first. Molly wanted to know whether there'd be postcards, when she patted her head and told her to be good. (Xavin informed them all that the needle on the building was a Skrull transmission tower. Interstellar missives could happen, solar flares permitting.) There were good words with Gert. Chase was still mostly confused, and so was Victor when Karolina hugged him. She thought it was really for both versions. And then there was Nico. Still fighting the inevitable, still angry - at least until she started crying, and Karolina hugged her tightly for a while.
And there was nothing but maybe the worst. She came back to Liara, and held out her hand. On her palm, there was her MedAlert bracelet.
"This is for you."
Liara
Liara reached for it. She turned over her hand and stared down at the bracelet.
"Thank you," she said quietly. She closed her hand over the bracelet and looked up. "I am... not sure what to say."
There seemed to be space for a great deal of things to talk about. And yet none were coming out.
Karolina
"Yeah, me neither," Karolina said. It was just that kind of situation. All she could think to say were practical things, and she felt like she should've said something else.
She moved to pull Liara into a hug.
Liara
Liara took a deep breath as her arms closed around Karolina. She released it a moment later. "Goddess," she said unsteadily. "Be careful."
Karolina
"I will," she promised in a murmur, even if she had no idea whether she'd be able to keep that. "Please tell Jim everything's okay and I'm sorry I didn't call." She hesitated, before adding, "And Gert and Victor too."
Although Victor probably already knew.
Liara
"I will," Liara said.
She gave Karolina a squeeze before she pulled away. "May the Goddess lend you strength," she said.
Karolina
Karolina nodded. "You too," she said, for lack of anything better. Words were hard. "Take care." She hesitated, then gave Liara a quick kiss on the cheek before letting her go and stepping back.
It wasn't her first choice of kiss placement, but... Everything was weird right now.
She looked at the group. Her friends. "So... Goodbye."
Liara
Liara was certain she would be feeling that for some time yet. But she resisted the urge to reach for her cheek, partly in terror it would turn into something as inappropriate as a wave.
"Goodbye," she said. "I..."
Whatever she was going to say, she swallowed it. It was a bunch of hot air anyway; she could scarcely remember what already.
Sigh
No one else had much to say anymore, either. Karolina gave them all a wave because she thought they were always appropriate. She boarded Xavin's spacecraft, and she was still looking out at them as the hatch closed and cut her off from the outside world. This was it. The craft hovered upwards. And then in a flash, it was gone, zooming into outer space. They had a long way to go.
The roof was quiet for a moment.
And then Nico grabbed Chase by the collar of his shirt. "Chase, give me your switchblade! Now!"
"Uhhh, why?"
Nico's face was still streaked with tears. "I... I have to cut myself, to make the Staff of One appear. If I cast a retrieval spell, I can still bring her back!"
Liara
"Nico!"
Goddess, Liara hoped she had gotten that name right.
"Please, there is no need to injure yourself, and retrieving Karolina would be extraordinarily ineffective."
Little blue fumes danced around her. She would prefer not to have to use her biotics to pry Nico away from her friend.
Everyone sans Kar
She wouldn't have to. Victor pointed towards the building's needle, the transmission tower. "Look! the tower. It's flashing." And so it was. Red, in specific patterns of long and short flashes of light. Nico let go of Chase so she could turn to look just like everyone else had. "What's it saying, 'Frog?" Chase asked, and their intelligent spacecraft translated the message.
"Please... don't... be... sad... for... me. Stop. I... love... you... all... very... much. Stop. Keep... running. Stop."
And silence fell again.
Liara
The day had been one shock after the other with precious little time to reflect in between. And so it was the silence that struck Liara like a physical blow.
She raised her hands to her face quickly when she realized she was crying, turning away from the group.
Goddess. She... she wanted her mother.
[ooc: NFB, NFI, OOC-okay! Preplayed with the delightful fewerexplosions, and taken with tweakage from Runaways vol. 2 issues 7-8.]
So here were Karolina and Nico, walking along to the slightly more secluded part where they were supposed to welcome Liara to Los Angeles for the weekend. The rest were supposed to come meet up with them here - they'd split up to do shopping in teams of two. Also, Karolina hadn't wanted to overwhelm Liara.
... Or get overwhelmed herself. This was making her a little more nervous than she would've admitted, although she was pretty sure Nico could tell. The other girl looked pretty curious. Almost amused.
And then they were there. And then there was a portal.
Liara
And, a few moments later, there was a girl.
A blue girl in blue jeans and a green long-sleeved shirt and an intensely red and not-at-all awkward-looking beanie hat pulled down over her crest so tightly you could almost see the cartilage trying to break through it in the back.
"...Hello!"
Karolina
Karolina gave her a dorky little wave. Because reasons. Then she stepped forward. "Hi! How was your trip? At least Portalocity didn't lose you or anything."
Nico decided to hang back for the moment. To assess the newcomer, maybe. Or just to give Karolina some space to greet her guest for a sec.
Liara
"It was... interesting," Liara said. "I did not realize that common human household items could be so... belligerent."
She took a few steps forward as well and... went in for a slightly awkward hug.
She'd missed Karolina. A bit.
Karolina
The hug wasn't quite as awkward from Karolina's side. She'd missed her too. A bit. Maybe more than that.
"... Wait, what?"
Liara
Liara leaned back. "There were kitchen utensils and appliances," she said, frowning. "They... danced. Belligerently."
Karolina
"That's... new." Yeah, Kar, your raised eyebrows probably said that already. "That's definitely not normal."
But what was normal, anyway?
Liara
"I was warned about Portalocity," Liara said, giving Karolina's hand one squeeze while they were still relatively close. "It did not make the experience any less bewildering."
She looked over Karolina's shoulder at her friend. "So this is your home."
Well, not exactly...
Kar & Nico
"This is Los Angeles," Karolina replied with a little smile, now pulling back to actually include Nico in things. Right, personal greeting time over. "And that's Nico."
The girl's arms were folded across her chest. She nodded at Liara in greeting. "Hey."
Liara
"Hello," Liara said, serious and completely earnest. "Thank you for having me."
Sigh.
Nico & Kar
Nico shrugged. "Karolina's friends are our friends too." Even if she was still... kind of eyeing Liara like she was sizing her up.
Something which did not escape Karolina's notice. "Nico, it's okay."
Nico glanced at her, then sighed and let her posture relax some. "Sorry," she told Liara. Vaguely. "Welcome to LA. Kar says you've never been."
Liara
"I have not been to a great many places on your planet," Liara said. She was... trying to sound respectful. "LA will be the second city in your United States I have visited."
The first one being... well, Fandom, actually. Just Fandom.
Karolina
"We should go to DC sometime," Karolina replied. "I mean, the one in this universe. Where you might not stand out as much. Right, Nico?"
Nico... had stopped paying attention. Sorry about that. She was looking up at the sky. Squinting up, actually. At a shooting star, except it actually wasn't one.
Liara
"Are there many different species in DC?" Liara asked. Her back was to the star, or, well, the back of her head was anyway and the beanie didn't leave her a great field of vision.
Kar & Nico
"Well, it's the east coast," Karolina shrugged. "I think there's plenty of everything."
"That star," Nico murmured, still looking up. "It's getting bigger." That got Karolina to turn and look up. Her eyes widened. That -- probably wasn't a star, was it? And it was getting bigger, because it was getting closer.
And heading right at them.
Liara
Liara turned around abruptly. "That is not a star," she said, her eyes widening. "Does your world have a great deal of spacecraft--? Because if that is a falling satellite, I suggest we run."
Karolina
That was exactly what Karolina was already intending to do, reaching for Liara's hand. Whatever it was that was coming at them from the sky, though, it was fast.
And then it was right there, and it stopped. It was a small spacecraft, and it stopped to hover in the air right in front of them.
"Whoa," Karolina breathed. "Is that one of Excelsior's ships?" Nico wondered. The ship landed smootly, sending a gust of air at them, and Karolina shook her head. "I don't think so. It looks like it's from --" She glanced over at Liara. "-- out of town."
Liara
Liara's eyes darted towards Karolina's. "Does that mean you recognize it?" she asked.
She sounded wary. She could defend herself if it was necessary, but she would rather-- not.
… This dude?
Karolina shook her head. Before she had time to say anything else, the craft's hatch began to open, steam pouring out. And then someone stepped out. A young man, dark skinned, fairly pleasant features, wearing a skintight jumpsuit.
And he said, "Hello, Karolina."
Karolina's eyes widened. She had most definitely not been expecting that. "How... how do you know my name?"
"Your name?" he asked in return. He seemed amused by her confusion. Not in a malicious way. Just like maybe she should have already known these things. "I followed your energy signature all the way from the Andromeda galaxy. I know you better than anyone."
That was a weird thing to say. On several points, and Karolina instinctively glanced at Liara again, as if she had any of the answers when she'd never even been in their world before. "Andromeda...?"
Liara
"It is a galaxy roughly 2.5 million light years from Earth," Liara said. "I assume he used a very long-range mass relay of some sort to get here."
That... wasn't what Karolina was asking, no. But in Liara's defense, she was struck by the thought that this meant there may be some way to get home.
Kar & Random Dude
That was not what Karolina had been asking. It was a reassuringly Liara-like reply anyway. But not everyone was reassured. "What do you want with Karolina, Captain Jumpsuit?" Nico demanded to know.
"I want to take her away from this godforsaken ball of water."
... Right. Maybe it was all the fighting experience over the past month or two, but Karolina's bracelet came off in about a second after she'd heard that statement. She glowed and sparkled, but there was a look of determination on her face. "You're not taking me anywhere." And she pushed her hand out, firing a bolt of energy at the man, hoping to knock him down so he'd know she wasn't about to go quietly. But he made no move. It was as if there was an invisible shield around him.
"Glorious," he said, as if he was pleased with the attack, "but careful of the ricochet." The force of Karolina's energy bounced off the shield... and straight at Nico, hitting her squarely in the chest, making her fall limply to the ground.
Karolina rushed to her immediately. "Nico!"
Liara
It would be many decades before Liara's first instinct in these situations would be to go for her biotics. But with Karolina minding her friend already, she felt it was likely her job to deal with the new arrival.
"You cannot be serious," she said, offended. "You cannot just swoop in and take whoever you like!"
… Wait he's a Skrull?
"And I'm not," he replied calmly, exhibiting only mild interest in the... whatever lifeform was addressing him right now. He'd never seen anyone who looked like Liara, but he also didn't care much.
He considered Karolina who was still kneeling beside Nico and making sure she was breathing okay. "But perhaps her parents told her to expect my true form." Yeah, letting his form ripple into the semi-reptilian look of a Skrull? Totally helped things. Right?
Okay Karolina was kind of staring now.
Liara
"I do not believe she was expecting you at all," Liara snapped.
For once, irritation was clearly visible in both her expression and her tone. "I suggest you leave."
Kar & Xavin, apparently
Xavin kept his calm. Even if he looked a bit disdainful. "I am not going to do that."
"What makes you think I'll go anywhere with you," Karolina snapped, still kneeling, "after you hurt Nico?"
"Forgive me, I never meant to damage it." That 'it' being Nico. He shook his head. "Karolina, my name is Xavin. Did they really not speak to you of the arrangement between our homeworlds? I'm not your enemy. I'm your fiancé."
... Karolina was sorry, but she was going to be doing some more staring. About now. "W-what?"
Liara
Liara's response involved rather less hesitation or staring, though the word was the same. "What."
Hopefully nobody was going to mind the little crackle of blue energy leaping from her shoulder down her arm.
Xavin & Kar
Only if no one was going to mind that Xavin's hand seemed to be on fire. Like it actually had been for a moment now. And he didn't even mean to be threatening with it. Meanwhile, Karolina was finally getting to her feet - or, indeed, a foot off the ground as the case was with her powers and levitation. Nico was still out of it, but at least she was breathing. She'd come to. "What are you?"
Xavin seemed incredulous. "What do you mean, what am I? I'm a Skrull, Karolina. From the planet Tarnax VII? I..." And then he looked at his flaming hand. "Oh, you mean this?"
She had not.
"Yeah, I'm a Super Skrull... Or I will be, once my training is complete. Right now, I can really only control one cosmic element at a time, but I'm getting better every day, you know?"
He actually sounded... like a kid, for some of that. But it didn't really reassure Karolina, especially when he tried to come closer to her. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
Shut up, this called for bad language.
Liara
"I suggest you stay where you are until we have gotten to the bottom of this!"
Liara: not afraid to back that up with gravity warping if she had to.
Xavin & Kar
"Karolina, tell your pet to be quiet and stop meddling," Xavin said with a look of slightly more pronounced disdain at Liara. It softened, mostly, when he directed his attention at Karolina again. "Is my English that bad?" he asked, when she was still staring at him. "I know 'Super Skrull' sounds sort of pompous in your language, but I swear that the Skrullos translation is was less stuck-up. Anyway, I promise I'll take you to a really good language tutor after our honeymoon."
Karolina couldn't deal with this. She was several feet off the ground now, and seriously just considering grabbing Liara and flying away. "Get away from me, you freak!"
"Ewe'fareek is my uncle, Karolina," Xavin told her, calmly. The flame around his hand went out. "My name is Xavin." His hand shot out towards her - and his arm stretched out, way, like it was made of rubber, and it twisted around her in an instant, stopping her in place. "I told you, I'm going to be your husband."
Liara
This was about as far as Liara was willing to take it - being called a pet, watching Karolina being treated that way? No. Absolutely not. Unacceptable.
"I am not a pet. I have a name!" she snapped, hurling a warp at him without-- well, not without thinking. He had a shield. A warp was shifting mass effect fields. They could not be bounced because they were fields, so they either fizzled or they worked, and they would do so in a prolonged fashion. A warp was supposed to help break shields down. So-- this was strategy, correct?
She had never really been in open battle before. She was still willing to give it a good try.
Like half the group, yay
Well, it certainly got Xavin's attention! And did something to his shield, which made him snarl because he didn't have the patience for this. But, his annoyance at his weakening shield together with something else made him let go of Karolina. And that 'something else' was Victor, showing up with Molly in tow. "Put her down!" he called out. "I'm talking to you, Mr. Less-Than-Fantastic!"
... Okay, Victor. "'Mr. Less-Than-Fantastic'?" Molly asked, because with these people it was never not a good time to judge someone else's quips. "You're stretching more than he is."
"Quiet, Molly."
"That voice," Xavin said, releasing Karolina awho immediately flew to Liara's side. "You're an android, aren't you? You machines exist to cook and clean, not crack wise." He glanced over at Karolina again. "Karolina, have your underlings no respect?"
"What? They're not my underlings!" Karolina yelled, but Victor was already trying to shoot electricity at him. And that just got Victor himself floating in the air inside... some kind of an energy bubble. "Xavin! Let him go! Liara!"
Well, it had seemed like her stuff had at least done something, and Karolina herself was still hesitant to risk trying anything with her energy lest it bounce back at any of the others.
Liara
Xavin's powers weren't anything Liara knew, per se, but in some ways they were familiar-- she didn't know how to break that bubble but she could pull it towards them-- get Victor safe.
"If you do not let him go right now," she yelled with more bravado than she was feeling, "I will ignite a biotic explosion and blow you across the planet!"
She wasn't sure where that had come from. Perhaps she had been watching too much human television of late.
Xavin, Kar, Gert (YAY, GERT)
Xavin shook his head, but let go of Victor who fell to the ground with a thud and a yelp, but was otherwise unharmed. "Threatening me is unwise," Xavin said, stalking forwards towards Liara, his arm turning into stone as he pulled back, ready for a punch.
"No!" Karolina yelled, moving in front of Liara with a whoosh of air. "Stop it! These people are my friends!"
That seemed to jolt Xavin out of his aggression. His mouth fell open. "Friends?" he asked, his voice honestly confused. His features turned human again. "You mean your parents let you have --"
He crumpled to the ground mid-sentence, having just been hit in the back of his head by the Leapfrog, materializing out of thin air behind him. The hatch was already open, and there was Gert, standing next Old Lace.
"Ribbit," she said.
Liara
... Liara knew that face.
Her head jerked up to meet that realization head on - so to speak - and she wobbled a little in place. Had she really just done that?
"...Gert," she said. That was the human's name. Gert.
Gert & Kar
"Correct," Gert replied, with a raised eyebrow. "So I guess you must be Liara." And not another random person threatening people like the one currently knocked out under the Leapfrog. This conclusion was further solified when Karolina floated back over to Liara, now carrying the still mostly unconscious Nico in her arms. "Liara? Are you okay?"
Chase's voice came on over the loudspeaker. "Okay, ramblers, let's get rambling! We've got po-po incoming!"
Liara
"I am fine," Liara said, though she did still seem a little unsteady. "We should get out of here."
She should probably sound more panicked, but-- she couldn't.
Kar & Gert
"Yeah, we should," Karolina agreed, nudging her towards the Leapfrog... okay, kind of with Nico's legs, but she probably got the point. She was already heading into the craft herself.
"Who is this goon, Karolina?" Gert asked as they were boarding, indicating towards Xavin, still passed out on the ground. "One of Swarm's henchmen?"
Karolina shook her head. "No, Gert. He's... he's an extraterrestrial. Like us." She nodded towards Liara. And boy was it kind of nice to be able to say that, even if it was under these circumstances. "He said that we're engaged. Sounds like my parents set up some kind of arranged marriage for us."
... Yeah, the circumstances kind of sucked.
Gert scoffed. "Figures. Even when they're dead, they still find ways to make you suffer." She rolled her eyes, then nodded at Liara. "Hey. Welcome to LA." There was a definite wry tone to that.
Liara
"Thank you."
No wry tone at all. Liara sounded downright earnest.
As soon as she'd boarded, she reached up and rubbed at her forehead. She felt a little woozy, come to think of it. It was rather impeding her ability to ask questions, which considering the situation-- "Ohh."
Karolina
Karolina put Nico down in a seat and let Victor fuss over her. It looked like she was coming to, finally. Good. Karolina looked up. "Liara? Are you okay?"
Chase was already getting the Leapfrog cloaked up and zooming up into the sky. Didn't need to get caught by the police.
Liara
"I am just a little woozy," Liara said. The look she granted Karolina was vaguely embarrassed. "I have never-- done that before. I may need to lay down."
Karolina
"You should sit down," Karolina replied, immediately coming over to take her by a shoulder. The had enough seats to go around. "Whatever you did, it was pretty impressive."
Liara
Liara sank down into a chair as soon as she had the option. She stared down at her hands. "My biotics," she said. "I have never put as much energy into it before."
Karolina
In the background, Nico was coming to, with Victor and Molly filling her in on what she'd missed, while she rubbed at her temples. Karolina paid them no mind right now.
"Is there anything I can get you?" she asked. "I mean, uh, not that we have a lot of stuff in here, and we kind of lost our shopping back there. But, for when we get back to the Hostel?"
Liara
"A glass of water will suffice," Liara said. She was rubbing at her own temples. "And perhaps some quiet-- once we get to your Hostel."
Karolina
"I can get you both," Karolina promised, putting a hand on her shoulder and offering her a very small smile. "We'll be right there. We need to move fast anyway, to get away from that creep back there, so... we'll be right there."
Spoken like an optimist.
Liara
"Thank you," Liara said quietly.
After a moment of deliberation, she slid an arm around Karolina's waist - at least partly to maintain her own balance.
Karolina & the Leapfrog
Karolina approved of this decisioneven if this was really no time to be thrilled to be so close to Liara.
No really, it wasn't. Because suddenly, there was a voice: "Danger! Danger! Be advised, pursuing ship has us on missile lock."
Karolina blinked. "Was that - did the Leapfrog just talk?"
(Over by the controls, Chase asked the same question. The Leapfrog informed him it was indeed able to speak - in roughly five thousand languages.)
"... Wait, did it say something about missiles?
Liara
"...Can you take evasive maneuvers?!"
Liara was still woozy, but now she was also on alert - and spouting the only thing she'd ever heard in vids in reaction to that.
Everyone
Before anyone had a chance to respond, the Leapfrog spoke up again. "Standby, enemy craft is opening a hailing frequency."
And then there was Xavin's already-familiar voice. "Your cloaking is worthless against my ship's scanners, Karolina," he said, calm but assertive. Like he meant business, even if it was unpleasant business. "Set down your vehicle, or I'm afraid I'll have to blow it and you out of the sky."
Victor shook his head. "He's bluffing. He wouldn't risk hurting his fiancée. He's just --"
A giant boom rocked the entire craft, tilting the entire thing sideways until Chase got it back under control, and knocking them all off their seats. Maybe Xavin wasn't bluffing after all.
Liara
Liara spat out one or two unflattering things in her mother tongue she hoped didn't have an Earth equivalent, because if her translation matrix parsed those-- well.
They were terribly unflattering.
Her face hurt. Stupid floor.
Everyone
Karolina's butt could have been doing better, too. The floor was stupid and way too hard.
Molly glared at Victor, like it was his fault this had happened. "Way to go, jinx."
"That was a warning shot," Xavin's voice informed them. "Next one won't be." His tone took a turn for the... Well. Ever so slightly more pleading. But it was really slight. "Please, I just want to talk to you, Karolina."
"I'm here, dammit!" Karolina snapped, while she was picking herself up off the floor, and giving Liara a hand to do the same. "Talk!"
"No, face to face." Of course. "Meet me on the roof of the cylindrical structure near Hollywood and Vine."
"Screw that," Nico said, frowning hard. "Let's turn on the afterburners and outrun this herb." But now Karolina was hesitating. She never could hold on to anger for too long. "Nico, wait." She chewed on her lip as she cast a hesitant glance towards Liara. "Maybe... maybe we should hear him out?"
Otherwise he might just keep coming.
Liara
Liara was swiftly finding she had no such fast-cooling tendencies. In fact, she was swiftly finding that she did, in fact, have a temper.
She pushed up off the floor. "Do we have any weapons on this thing?!"
Kar, Chase, Xavin
Karolina's eyebrows bounced. "Liara --"
But she didn't get further. Chase was the expert on all things 'Frog, so he thought it best to cut in. "Last time we used the lasers, they drained damn near all the juice we had left," he called back a reply. "And I haven't tested them since! We're not in a great spot for crash landing, I say we bail."
And then Xavin, again. He'd been listening, of course. "Leave me if you must, my love, but do... and everyone on this planet will die." And he sounded almost resigned to it, like it wasn't a threat but a fact. And Karolina felt it squeezing at her insides uncomfortably for a moment, pulling her brow down into a deep, worried frown.
Until she made a decision. "Chase, Capitol Records. Land us."
Liara
Liara grasped the side of a chair and pushed herself onto her feet. "You must be joking," she said, staring at Karolina.
Goddess. This entire voyage had been insane.
Karolina
Well, like they'd said, welcome to LA. Life here for superpowered teenagers veered very rarely towards any semblance of sanity. "I'm not," Karolina replied, more firmly than she tended to speak most of the time. "I want to find out exactly what the deal is here."
There had to be a reason why Xavin had just said what he'd said.
Liara
"I would advise against it!" That... much was obvious, Liara. However, she made no other moves to stop Karolina; she was too busy holding onto that seat for dear life.
This was a lot of excitement for her at this age, at least.
Kar & Nico
"I know, Liara," Karolina replied. "But I need to know."
"Are you insane?" Nico demanded. Enough of an outburst that it made Karolina look just a little sheepish. But just a little. "I'm sorry, Nico... But, um, this is about me. So I'm making the call."
Chase just shrugged and got them descending towards the Capitol Records building. And as he did, Xavin's voice came over the system again. "Thank you."
Karolina chewed on her lip and said nothing.
Liara
Liara's eyes narrowed slightly.
There was some pent-up pigheadedness brewing in her chest that she was biting down on for the sake of-- well, she couldn't call it politeness. That would involve being considerate towards the party that had forced them into this situation, and she couldn't quite manage that.
She righted herself, fighting against the woozy feeling in her mind.
She looked to Karolina, silent.
Karolina
And Karolina stood and looked at the floor. She looked determined, though thoughtful. Nico was still grumbling, and Molly was offering her own doubts about the situation, but she didn't really listen.
As they touched down on the roof of the building, she held a hand out towards Liara.
Liara
Liara let out a deep sigh. Part of her was still mulishly angry and wanted nothing to do with this, and so it was only after a moment of visible hesitation that she took Karolina's hand.
Kar, Xavin, Gert
Karolina gave her what she hoped was a brief reassuring smile, and squeezed her hand.
And then they'd landed, and the hatch hissed open, and Karolina tugged Liara along with her, the first ones out though everyone else followed close behind. Xavin was there already, in front of his own craft. He looked human again. He spread his arms, a non threatening gesture. "Karolina, can't... can't we have a moment alone?"
Karolina shook her head. "Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of them."
"And feel free to turn all green and scaly," Gert added, Old Lace growling quietly next to her, "but I'm warning you right now, that routine doesn't exactly scare us."
Liara
"I do suggest you choose your words - and actions - carefully," Liara agreed. Her voice didn't lend herself particularly well to aggressiveness, and with her temper under control, it sounded more like a general statement than a threat.
She kept her grip on Karolina. Perhaps to make a point.
Xavin & Kar
"Right," Xavin said. His gaze dipped down to their joined hands for a second. He didn't look like he knew what to make of it. But, his attention focused on Karolina. "First of all, I apologize for my... outburst," he said. "Your customs are still unfamiliar to me." Understatement. "I hail from a distant outpost of the Skrull Empire. Fifteen years ago, my father, Prince De'zean, led an invasion against Earth. He was stopped by your parents, Karolina."
"My parents?" Karolina asked. It didn't seem to fit in with her idea of her parents as... well, evil. They'd saved Earth? "How?"
"In exchange for sparing their adopted home, your mother and father revealed coordinates of a much more valuable target... Majesdane, your parents' birth planet, which had exiled them for criminal activities decades ago." Xavin didn't look like he was judging, or anything. Just delivering the facts, though he knew they were unpleasant. "Father had been looking to plunder that mythical world for years, and your parents divulged that it was hidden beneath the corona of a white dwarf."
Karolina didn't realize she'd started gripping Liara's hand tighter. "My mom and dad lived in a star?"
Xavin nodded. "As assurance that the coordinates Leslie and Frank Dean gave were real, your parents offered my parents their only child's hand in marriage."
So there it was. "And now you're here to collect on your folks' sick agreement?" Nico snapped. Because it was only so long that she could keep quiet especially in a situation like this. She sounded pissed. Xavin didn't seem to take too much offence, although his expression turned softer. There was sadness in it, Karolina thought. "My 'folks' are dead," he said. "They were both killed in the bloody war that's been raging between Tarnax VII and Majesdane for the last fifteen years."
Karolina turned a little paler. Fascinating on someone who was currently covered in shifting colours, really.
Liara
Liara's eyes darted briefly to Karolina's face. She could already glean her state of mind from the death grip on her hand, but...
She wasn't sure how she felt at this present moment.
"It is clear your coordinates were accurate then, and no assurance is required," she said, her gaze flicking back to Xavin. "Why are you here?"
The Group
Xavin must have accepted Liara's status as some kind of an equal entourage member of Karolina's by now, because he actually acknowledged the question, and with the same tone he'd used with Karolina herself. "Because the war is still going on," he said. "And I'm looking for solutions. I'm beginning to suspect that Karolina's family never thought I would live long enough to return for her. By sending my father's army to the world that had betrayed them, her parents must have imagined that both planets would end up annihilating each other... which they very nearly have."
Nico was still looking annoyed. No, angry. Her tone said she was angry. "But if your old man was some royal leader, doesn't that mean you're in charge now?" she asked. "Can't you stop the fighting?"
"I could surrender the Imperial Skrull Army, but there's no guarantee that the Majesdane Light Brigade wouldn't annihilate my troops once we laid down our arms."
"No offense, but you guys attacked first," Victor chimed in, pointing at Xavin. "Why should we care if Karolina's peeps wipe out your evil empire?"
"Because once the Skrulls are defeated,"Xavin replied solemnly, "the Majesdanians will likely destroy Earth, as retaliation for your planet's role in starting the war."
This was where Karolina managed to get a word out again. Two of them, a burst: "That's insane!"
"Indeed," Xavin agreed, turning his gaze back to her. "This is a mindless conflict being fought between the adults of each world, but there are youths on both sides who have known nothing but bloodshed their entire lives, and they are eager for an end to the war. By returning with you as my Majesdanian bride, it is my hope that we can together unite our peoples and bring peace to the quadrant." He sounded sincere. And then he moved closer to Karolina and Liara. And... got down on one knee in front of the former, holding out a hand for her free one. He looked up at her. "I implore you, Magnificent One... will you marry me?"
Karolina stared. A lot. Yes, she knew there was an arranged marriage thing behind all this, but it was still a different thing to actually get proposed to. Especially when Xavin was suddenly looking so imploringly up at her. She didn't know what to say. So Molly broke the silence for her, brightly, by asking, "Does that mean Karolina's gonna be a princess?"
Liara
Yes, that was...
Well. That was...
Logic stated that...
What would her mother do? Surely Benezia would know the right thing to say!
Liara's mouth opened, then shut a few times. Silence. She'd... Yes.
The Group
Nico wasn't speechless, surprising no one. "No, Molly, it means she's going to be a hostage," she argued, turning towards Karolina like she was expecting her to have the answer. The right, acceptable answers. "This is stupid, K. He's just trying to use you as a human shield, 'cause he knows your people won't risk hurting one of their own."
"That's not true!" Xavin argued as he stood up again, visibly agitated for the first time. Karolina helped up her free hand, to calm him down. Not just him, but everyone. "She's right, Xavin," she said. "I can't marry you... but not because I don't believe you. I can't do it because it'd be a lie." She glanced at Liara and chewed her lip, then added, "I like girls."
Behind them, Chase gasped, as if he was just now figuring this out.
But Xavin didn't see this as too much of a challenge. The look on his face brightened. "Is that all that's stopping you?" he asked. "Karolina, Skrulls are shapeshifters. For us, changing gender --" And again, he changed in front of their eyes. Except this time, he stayed human, but turned into a she. (And she was pretty.) "-- is no different than changing hair color."
Karolina ended up staring again. But this time, she wasn't without words for long, even if they were halting. She looked at Liara again, and then at Xavin. "But uh, that's not the whole problem, because I, um... I like a specific girl in particular?"
Liara
That was a cue if she'd ever heard one to make some kind of-- solid proclamation, some statement of intent. So Liara, of course, opened her mouth and said, "Technically speaking, I am not a girl, as my species only knows one gender."
... what. Xavin had explained about their species, it would only help negotiations if they were all on the same...
... nevermind.
"...But I have been - I believe the word is - 'dating' Karolina for some time. Whatever claim you feel you have is based on old information, not to mention a lack of consent."
There. Better.
Xavin
"This is not about dating," Xavin replied, probably mostly grasping the meaning of the word, if not entirely. "This is about the continued survival of several worlds."
And it was getting to Karolina. She felt a little woozy, if she was honest. But she said nothing. Just held on to Liara's hand tightly.
Xavin looked at her again. "Please, you don't have to say yes just yet, but at least take a trip with me. Let me show you that the things I'm saying are true. Let me take you to your home."
Home? What did that even mean?
Liara
Liara frowned. She... wasn't sure what to say. So she turned to Karolina, squeezing her hand. "What do you want?"
Kar & Nico
Karolina chewed on her lip again as she looked over at Liara. Like she wasn't sure, even though she was feeling more and more sure by the second. Majesdane's call was too strong to ignore. "I... I think I want to go."
Nico's mouth fell open. "What? Karolina, no!"
"Nico, people are dying." And they were her people. She hadn't even thought she'd have people like that anymore. Not that it appeased Nico. The girl looked furious, even as everyone else looked confused. "That's not your fault!"
"No, it's my mom and dad's fault," Karolina replied, shaking her head. "And I thought the whole point of our group was trying to make up for our parents' mistakes, right?" She turned back to Liara. "Even if it's hard."
Liara
Liara met Karolina's eyes.
"I would not put it as such," she said. Her relationship with Benezia was... a great deal more complicated than that. "But then I am not a part of your group."
Perhaps she was talking around the decision on purpose now. Her chest hurt.
Karolina
Karolina had more meant to include her in the pain rather than the group reasoning. She knew this would've hurt whether there was a Liara involved or not - but she was also sure it would've hurt less if she'd never met her.
But somehow maybe it wasn't a bad kind of pain. "I know," she said. "But you're my... friend." It was obvious she didn't think that was the right word. "I'm sorry, Liara."
Xavin was already turning to head back to his -- her craft.
Liara
"Are you sure this will be safe?"
The words came out in a rush. Liara was alarmed to find her voice was cracking.
Karolina
Karolina sighed, with a shudder, and still tried to offer an encouraging smile. "No, I'm not." She shook her head. "There's a war on. But I might be able to help stop it."
She was used to things not being safe by now, anyway.
Liara
Liara was silent for a moment - she didn't match Karolina's smile.
"Are you coming back?" she asked at last.
Karolina
Karolina's smile faded mostly away, too. "I don't know," she admitted. Even if it was more for the war part than any immediate desire to stay forever with people she hadn't even met yet. "I hope so."
Liara
"Ah," Liara said.
Don't go, she wanted to say, but the voice of her mother was in her head yelling at her about how uncivilized and selfish that would be.
She bit down on her lower lip. "Then I suppose this is goodbye."
Goodbyes
"But not for a couple more minutes."
Not that that was any real comfort, but it was the best Karolina could offer. There was a certain kind of calm about her, now that she'd made up her mind. The decision had been made and now all that was left was going through with it.
She pulled her hand gently away from Liara's grasp so she could do her round of other goodbyes, first. Molly wanted to know whether there'd be postcards, when she patted her head and told her to be good. (Xavin informed them all that the needle on the building was a Skrull transmission tower. Interstellar missives could happen, solar flares permitting.) There were good words with Gert. Chase was still mostly confused, and so was Victor when Karolina hugged him. She thought it was really for both versions. And then there was Nico. Still fighting the inevitable, still angry - at least until she started crying, and Karolina hugged her tightly for a while.
And there was nothing but maybe the worst. She came back to Liara, and held out her hand. On her palm, there was her MedAlert bracelet.
"This is for you."
Liara
Liara reached for it. She turned over her hand and stared down at the bracelet.
"Thank you," she said quietly. She closed her hand over the bracelet and looked up. "I am... not sure what to say."
There seemed to be space for a great deal of things to talk about. And yet none were coming out.
Karolina
"Yeah, me neither," Karolina said. It was just that kind of situation. All she could think to say were practical things, and she felt like she should've said something else.
She moved to pull Liara into a hug.
Liara
Liara took a deep breath as her arms closed around Karolina. She released it a moment later. "Goddess," she said unsteadily. "Be careful."
Karolina
"I will," she promised in a murmur, even if she had no idea whether she'd be able to keep that. "Please tell Jim everything's okay and I'm sorry I didn't call." She hesitated, before adding, "And Gert and Victor too."
Although Victor probably already knew.
Liara
"I will," Liara said.
She gave Karolina a squeeze before she pulled away. "May the Goddess lend you strength," she said.
Karolina
Karolina nodded. "You too," she said, for lack of anything better. Words were hard. "Take care." She hesitated, then gave Liara a quick kiss on the cheek before letting her go and stepping back.
It wasn't her first choice of kiss placement, but... Everything was weird right now.
She looked at the group. Her friends. "So... Goodbye."
Liara
Liara was certain she would be feeling that for some time yet. But she resisted the urge to reach for her cheek, partly in terror it would turn into something as inappropriate as a wave.
"Goodbye," she said. "I..."
Whatever she was going to say, she swallowed it. It was a bunch of hot air anyway; she could scarcely remember what already.
Sigh
No one else had much to say anymore, either. Karolina gave them all a wave because she thought they were always appropriate. She boarded Xavin's spacecraft, and she was still looking out at them as the hatch closed and cut her off from the outside world. This was it. The craft hovered upwards. And then in a flash, it was gone, zooming into outer space. They had a long way to go.
The roof was quiet for a moment.
And then Nico grabbed Chase by the collar of his shirt. "Chase, give me your switchblade! Now!"
"Uhhh, why?"
Nico's face was still streaked with tears. "I... I have to cut myself, to make the Staff of One appear. If I cast a retrieval spell, I can still bring her back!"
Liara
"Nico!"
Goddess, Liara hoped she had gotten that name right.
"Please, there is no need to injure yourself, and retrieving Karolina would be extraordinarily ineffective."
Little blue fumes danced around her. She would prefer not to have to use her biotics to pry Nico away from her friend.
Everyone sans Kar
She wouldn't have to. Victor pointed towards the building's needle, the transmission tower. "Look! the tower. It's flashing." And so it was. Red, in specific patterns of long and short flashes of light. Nico let go of Chase so she could turn to look just like everyone else had. "What's it saying, 'Frog?" Chase asked, and their intelligent spacecraft translated the message.
"Please... don't... be... sad... for... me. Stop. I... love... you... all... very... much. Stop. Keep... running. Stop."
And silence fell again.
Liara
The day had been one shock after the other with precious little time to reflect in between. And so it was the silence that struck Liara like a physical blow.
She raised her hands to her face quickly when she realized she was crying, turning away from the group.
Goddess. She... she wanted her mother.
[ooc: NFB, NFI, OOC-okay! Preplayed with the delightful fewerexplosions, and taken with tweakage from Runaways vol. 2 issues 7-8.]