EPIC Headquarters
Mega-city of New York
October 27, 2120
Johan
Mr. Bunny doesn't seem to buy your bluff. Then again, he may just be too stupid to understand it. Instead, he leaps the robot...
Your other self looks around for the cause of Anna's concern just in time to spot the decending Mr. Bunny. With a squeak he drops Jennifer and turns to run, getting squished to the ground. Under Mr. Bunny, all you can see is a leg and one arm sticking out holding Anna's glove. Jennifer scampers to hide behind you, clutching you around your waist.
Anna curses in Russian, and you don't quite catch it. "I'll take that," she says, suddenly standing beside Mr. Bunny and reclaiming her glove. "You, off," she says, smacking Mr. Bunny upside the head. He whines pitifully and gets up. "You, you and especially you, get out!" she exclaims, obviously irritated.
The sound of an incoming jet silences any responses. "Time to join the others at the Tarmac," she says, setting her glove with its mate and zipping out of the hanger. Your other self rolls to his feat and runs off after her.
"Hey, wait up, Anna!" he shouts.
Mr. Bunny, the danger past, walks back to Anna's giant stuffed rabbit and plops down to shower it with affection again. Jennifer is already making her way to Anna's workbench.
ON THE TARMAC
Vince and Jun Po arrive well before everyone else, and are soon joined by an eerily cheerful and friendly Cosmo, and a tired but happy looking Sanchez. Cosmo doesn't even insult Vince! Sanchez and Jun Po chat about recent events while Cosmo continues to not insult Vince and whistle a little tune.
Next to arrive are Neutron and Monica, the latter of which is positively bouncing with excitement. That creates an interesting sight given she appears to be wearing one of Dara's sundresses, the shortness of which on her is startling.
They are followed soon by Michelle and Tara. Michelle is dressed in what also appears to be one of Dara's sundresses, though it is not quite as startling short as Monica's. Not having been in close company with Tara for a while, you are surprised to see she, like Vince, has mutated quite a bit recently. Her antennae are getting extremely long, her wings far more translucent, her insectoid arms far more deadly looking and there is something odd with her eyes and hands. She keeps her distance a bit from the others.
People mill about, especially around the completely healthy Jun Po, until out of the blue, a half dozen huge robots appear! They immediately start blasting everyone... with colored plastic balls that vanish when they hit you. As everyone recovers from their fright, you hear peals of laughter from somewhere nearby as Loki appears.
"That was not humerous, Randall," Jun Po scolds.
"Oh yeah it was! Man, you shoulda seen your faces!" he laughs.
A rush of wind blasts by and Anna is suddenly standing amidst you. You spot Johan running from the hanger towards the group. "Nearly faster than you now, Vincent," she says with a grin.
"Could...have...waited...up... Anna," Johan huffs as he gets up to the group. And he arrives just in time as the plane touches down, taxi's to nearby and powers down. The ramp lowers and the rest of EPIC, save for Titan and X12, file off, including a newcomer who bears a striking resemblance to Kevin York.
Kodiak immediatly spots Jun Po, thundering over and picking her up in a massive bear hug. In a rare show of outward emotion, Kodiak heaves with sobs of joy.
"Toli, you must set me down. Others with to say hello," she says gently to him, though she must repeat herself several times before he does. She takes his face in her hands and wipes his tears away before greeting the others. Her greetings are very short however, as Kodiak interrupts again with another bear hug.
As for the others, Raisa, Carl and Dara look like Raisa, Carl and Dara, Jackal looks more normal, and possibly even a bit smaller than when you very first met him, and the senior team looks well enough, thought Thunder is walking with a bit of a limp. He gestures Michelle over to him and the newcomer.
Michelle
The newcomer is a fairly good looking young man whose resemblance to Kevin is amazing. He's of obvious military background, clean shaven, short hair, and a perfect posture. Over his shoulder a high tech rifle resides, and he's carrying two very heavy looking metal cases. A high tech helmet with some gadgets on it is hooked on his belt.
Jay
Thunder takes you to a very thin girl who, despite her lack of size, is jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Add to that the fact she's dressed in a rather risque skirt and top and you have a winning combination.
Jay and Michelle
"Michelle, I'd like you to meet Jeremy York," Thunder says in introduction. Raising an eye at Michelle's outfit, he spots Monica and doesn't make any comment. "Jeremy, Michelle leads our beta team and is going to get you settled in. Jeremy has some issues with Anarchy, so until they are resolved, he's going to be joining us. Hopefully he decides to stick with us, instead of going back to Europe," he adds, mostly to Jeremy.
"Give him the grand tour, introduce him around and get him set up in a free dorm room. Oh, and show him where to stow his equipment in the War Room. Jeremy, if you have any questions, ask Michelle. Any problems, talk to me. I'll get that info you wanted to you later today, Jeremy. Excuse me, kids," he says, his mood brightening considerably. "I see a certain lady I need to say hello to," he concludes, heading over to Jun Po and the others.
Neutron
As soon as Dara appears, Monica is gone from your side with a squeak of delight. The two collide on the tarmac in a hug, then touch foreheads togehter and fall eerily silent.
"Dude, you got ditched for a girl," Loki smirks. "So... you let her go out in public in that huh?" he says, eyeing up Monica. He turns to you, then with great fanfare hugs you with fake sobbing. "Thank you... thank you so much..."
Carl walks backwards towards you, head tilted slightly. "Who needs the G-Spot," he says until he bumps into you. "Hey. Uh..." he says as he sees Loki embracing you. "Whatever floats your boat I guess," he says with wrinkled brows. "This mean she's up for grabs again?"
Even as you consider responding, the girls seperate, then Monica dashes off to the plane and up the ramp, while Dara bull rushes towards you with a big smile on her face.
"Hey, loverboy," Loki quips at you. "What's red and round and about to bring you much pain? One hint: it aint rebound in a Santa suit." You notice Loki vacates your side.
Michael
Cosmo strolls semi-casually over towards you, but is not hiding his excitement well. "Hey, bro!" he says, slamming you in a short hug punctuated by a sharp slap on the back. He seems much stronger than you remember. "You're looking back to normal. How you feeling?" he asks. "Jerky?" he adds, holding up a big cannister much like the one he sent to you in China with Raisa. It certainly smells like your favorite kind.
Vince
You nearly get bowled over by Kodiak's rush to get to Jun Po, zipping back just in time, only to find yourself flailing and landing hard on your rear on the ground, victim of a sneaky trip attack. "Maybe I am quicker than you, comrade," grins Anna down at you.
"I was going to say nothing much has changed since we left, but I guess that would be far from the truth in your case," comes a familiar voice in Portuguese as Raisa walks up, bag slung over her shoulder. "You must be a hit with the religious folks now." She looks behind you and says "I see you aren't the only one changing," probably referring to Tara.
X12
You start to groggily come to. Despite your regeneration, which probably isn't up to full power just yet, your head throbs. You can hear someone say something quietly to you through the fog of your pounding headache, then something brushing through your hair. Your eyes snap open and you come face to face with the familiar face of Monica.
She looks concerned until you start to focus more, at which point she cheers up considerably, her white teeth flashing in a happy smile. She's running her right hand through your hair in an oddly soothing manner.
"Hey, Sparky," she says. "Welcome home."
