Enemy Unknown: Conclusion

[voidtreckermods]

The third night is as long and creepy as the others...

It might be that they found the engine room, solved the puzzles and found themselves in the hangar bay with no way out. It might be that they were still in the station hiding from the invisible monsters. Or it might be that they had been plucked from the mission and were waiting in their holding room.

Either way morning dawns on the fourth day...

---

ENEMY: UNKNOWN

---

DAY FOUR

the trapped. THOSE WHO SOLVED THE ENGINE ROOM SPENT THE NIGHT IN A LARGE HANGAR THAT DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE ANY DOORS. Their SCA's are working, so they can still communicate with those in the station, perhaps talk them through the engine room puzzles or tell them to stay clear. As morning comes all the lights in the hangar come on. Brighter than any lights so far in the station, harsh white light after the eerie red of the rest of the mission.

Everyone still in the station wakes where they fell asleep - if they slept at all. It's not long after most people are up and about that they will hear a high-pitched beep from their SCA, and then a blue light will envelop them and those around them. It might be they spot their friends vanishing before they too disappear.

They arrive in the hangar, reunited with those who spent the night there. All their gear is with them at least, but that doesn't solve the problem of being in a hangar with no obvious way out. Nor are any of those who vanished during the last three days here, their SCA's still go unanswered.

---

the vanished. FOR THOSE IN THE HOLDING ROOM, THEIR NIGHT HAS PROCEEDED MUCH LIKE THE NIGHTS BEFORE. One of the screens showed the hangar, and those that had succeeded in completing the engine room task. The lights had dimmed for sleeping and turned on again bright in the morning. For those watching the screens they will see those in the station vanish in blue light and turn up in the hangar.

Around half an hour later a voice sounds in the room. "Please gather your belongings and prepare for release."

It's another ten minutes, allowing them to make sure they have all their things before their SCA's beep. They are then surrounded by a blue light, taking them from the room they had spent the last few days in.

REUNITED

reunion. AN HOUR PASSES AFTER FIRST ARRIVALS PASS IN THE HANGAR. Suddenly, there is another flash of blue light, and the missing eighteen Voidtreckers appear with the rest of their crew. They will find they had all their gear as well, including their missing weapons.

They are left to their own devices for a small while, a time for reuniting with friends, but not long enough to exchange stories before a voice rings out in the hangar:

"THANK YOU CREW OF THE VOIDTRECKER EXPRESS FOR YOUR COMPLIANCE. YOU MAY RETURN TO YOUR CRAFT."
There is a loud mass of beeping as everyone's SCA's flashes at the same time, holographic messages popping up too fast to be able to read them in their entirety.

Voidtreckers come in.

All Voidtreckers return to the Voidtrecker Express

Voidtreckers evacuate now

Voidtreckers do you read?

Layers of holographic messages pile on top of each other but a moment later everyone's SCA's glow gold and everyone vanishes from the hangar...

LUGGAGE CARRIAGE

return. EVERYONE ARRIVES INSIDE THE LUGGAGE CARRIAGE, PACKED LIKE SARDINES BETWEEN SUITCASES AND TRUNKS. There is no announcement, no warning of returning to the void; just a lurch that is likely to throw anyone on the train unaware of what has just happened off their feet, no matter the carriage they're in.

They return to the void at what feels like breakneck speed. Colours fly past the windows, and it is a good few hours before they seem to slow to their normal travel speed.

---

Comments

[goingthroughaphase]

Taking a moment to try to recall, she nods. "Yeah, actually, they did kind of remind me of gas masks."

[yondu]

"Then I'm reckoning it's void inspectors from #392. They got these psychic powers an' rooms meant to turn off powers. Supposedly a privacy an' relaxation thing but I could see it turned against us real good."

Yondu's been researching the ministry hard for months now. If he'd been taken, he might have seen the likenesses. "Their rooms don't got doors or windows."

[goingthroughaphase]

"Yeah, that sounds like the guys we met and where we ended up," she confirms. "It turned out fine this time, but it could definitely be a problem if they'd intended something a bit more malicious."

[yondu]

"Dammit... I had Agent 8 look at the architecture book 'cause I figured somethin' like a cephalopod'd be the best bet for findin' an exit like that. I never figured they'd chicken peck who they'd take."

At least his predictions had mostly been correct, even if the situation had boggled him. The funny part being he'd been looking at how traps could have been laid but didn't consider the whole situation was a trap.

"It's a damn shame that happened, though. I been there quite a few times. It ain't a good feelin'." Being powerless and unable to escape a captor, that is.

[goingthroughaphase]

"Yeah. It looks like they were pretty careful about who to pick up too." At least from what she'd seen, the people they had chosen to interview hadn't put up too much of a fuss during their time in holding.

She shakes her head a bit with a sigh. "No, not so much." She hadn't been captured exactly before, though it is something she sometimes worried about back home. But the helpless feeling had been something she'd struggled with since arriving on the train, thinking about what she might return home to.

[yondu]

His expression softens up, though. She probably went through a lot of emotions in that short amount of time. She'd known she was helpless from the moment she entered that station. Being crammed into a room with no exits? As a teleporter? He can't imagine the nightmare that would have been.

"You know, I might not be the happiest fella in the whole of the universe sometimes but if you need somebody to talk to, I'm happy to make myself useful."

For her, anyway. He's walked off from other people before, classy soul that he is. But Kitty's firmly on his good side.

[goingthroughaphase]

His offer does get a smile from her, as she glances up at him. "Thanks. I really do appreciate it. Right now, I think...I'm mostly just trying to figure out how I feel."

She did experience a lot of emotions in a short time. And at the moment, she's not entirely sure she knows which one she's currently feeling.

[yondu]

"It doesn't gotta be about feelin's. You know, you actually got to do some normal shit in your life that I never got when I was a kid. Playin' with kids your age. Actually goin' to school. You even went on dates. I never did any of that. So about anything you'd tell me is new and interestin'. I like seein' the whole of the universe, even the little parts of it."

Well, okay, sometimes normal is boring. But he can absolutely listen if someone is enthused about it and just wants to take their mind off something hard.

Sorry for the delay! I hadn't been feeling very well this past week

[goingthroughaphase]

Kitty considers that for a moment. It has been a while since she's even thought about those little moments, or really felt normal. Even with going to school, pretending to be just like every other teenager, things really did change after her powers were awakened. But even with everything happening back home, there had still been time to think about things like getting her license and making sure all her homework was finished, and all the little things she'd taken for granted.

Even here, on an interdimensional train filled with people from all different universes, there were still time for moments like this between missions. And it was just...nice, having a reminder of that.

"Yeah, okay. I mean, if you don't mind some of it might be boring, I wouldn't mind sharing."

No worries! It's good to see you kicking.

[yondu]

"Gotta be more interestin' than a business deal or providin' security at a royal party where nothin' happened."

Okay, things did happen? But after the party because it's a good place to meet fancy ladies who might wanna slum it. Something he keeps his trap shut about though.

"Or these missions so far. Maybe it'll pick up." He is somehow doubting it. "I'd like us to keep our powers, feels like we're just scrapin' by whenever we're goin' up against shit in the suped-up equivalent of our skivvies."

<3

[goingthroughaphase]

She breathes out a small laugh. "Yeah, that'd be nice. We've at least gotten to keep our powers for some rescue missions, which helps." It did make searching for people a bit easier, at least. "But it'd help not having to worry about whether our powers will work or not the next time something dangerous happens."

[yondu]

"Yeah, I told Raven an' Kyoko I'd teach 'em some extra hand to hand. In a way that wouldn't go against their moral character." In reminding Raven sometimes fighting is for something and not against something.

"That somethin' else they taught at that school of yours? I mean I actually ain't seen you even fight yet. I always spoke to ya under peaceful circumstances."

Which is an odd thing to think about. Not many people he's only seen under peaceful conditions. Not that he'd be upset to see how she fights, he's always curious about that kinda thing, but so far that's the side he's seen from her.

[goingthroughaphase]

She nods. "Actually yeah. We've had practice with hand-to-hand combat, as well as wilderness survival training, and some others. They wanted us to be as prepared as possible, including what might happen if we couldn't use our powers."

So she wouldn't be completely helpless without her powers...it's just that she does prefer having them in emergencies.

"Plus, I've had some extra practice here too, as well as learning how to fight with a sword. Have you ever met Trunks? He's been teaching me."

[yondu]

"Yeah, I'm buddies with his dad."

Which is strange, honestly, to be able to just outright label people as friends himself. Though judging from his choices in friends it's more like he's one of those guys that just hangs out with other parents. Maybe that's what he'd needed back home, that select crowd of people to exchange 'well this is what my turd did' stories about their little'uns.

"What else they got you learnin'? Any stuff you been able to keep up with here?"

[goingthroughaphase]

It takes her a moment to remember who that is, because even though she has met Vegeta a few times it's still surprising to her that the two are related. Not that she has any problem with Vegeta or anything, he's been nice enough with her the times they've talked, and he even helped her out once. But Trunks is definitely the more sociable of the two.

"Mostly control and development of our powers. I try my best to keep working on it, but it's a little more difficult here without the training equipment we used back home."

[yondu]

Yondu became friends with Vegeta and Bulma separately, which is likely the most bizarre thing about the friendship. But he does consider them friends, and it shouldn't be too surprising that he's coming across most of his close adult relationships like he's part of a Hell's PTA.

"I think Bulma's gonna get some trainin' equipment, speakin' of Trunks. She eventually might be able to help out when she ain't bein' worked to death. What was the equipment back home?"

Again he missed traveling himself. He could just take Peter to strange planets if he wanted to teach him under strange conditions. Or use odd equipment for it.

[goingthroughaphase]

"Oh, is she? That'd be nice, though I hope she doesn't work too hard."

She hesitates a little, trying to think of the best way to explain. "Well, it's...there's a room that can project a hologram, so we can change the setting. Except it still feels solid, and let's us interact with things once it's running. To be honest, I'm not really sure how it works, but it's kind of like that one world we went to that had similar tech." Though she isn't sure if he'd seen any of those houses that had the realistic holograms. "There were other things too, though, like mechanical arms and lasers and spike balls..."

[yondu]

"Spike balls?" Why spike balls is the one that gives him the most pause, god only knows. There it is. "Well, that does sound more handy than what we got here."

Considerably more dangerous, but better training gear for certain.

"An' you did the more traditional learnin' like that. An'... you know... socialized. Done normal stuff." Didn't only learn to fight, because that made all the difference in an upbringing.

[goingthroughaphase]

She nods. "Yeah, the really big kind. They're mostly used as obstacles in narrow spaces, so they're hard to avoid." She grins a bit. "Unless you can go through them, of course."

Honestly, there are a lot of weird things in the Danger Room. Kitty still sometimes questions some of them, but there's no denying the results.

"Yeah. The Professor, the one who established the Institute, always reminds us how important it is to be part of the world. That just because we have these powers doesn't make us any better or worse than other people."

[yondu]

"Well of course they don't. Kind of bein' a backwards hellhole if they say differently. But it's nothin' new. Ain't like the Kree didn't get real pissy if someone had some kinda edge on 'em." The Skrulls especially. "Most planets don't get real partial."*

He realizes they probably could have taken the little teleportation things Thanatos installed but also it was kinda nice to just talk and hear her being okay. And see that she was okay.

"Another reason I wish I could show ya the universe, though." Despite the whole part of the world thing. "You'd fit right in. What's the Professor like?"


*OOC: I don't think that James Gunn will ever touch it but in the comics Centaurians had mutants too and because it was a hyper religious backward world it didn't end well for them. But a lot of the backstory for the mutant escapee got put in Nebula.

[goingthroughaphase]

She shrugs a little. "You'd be surprised how many people think differently. When people first learned about the existence of mutants, a lot of people didn't even want us going to the high school with "regular" students anymore. But even before that, there were other mutants who think themselves above humans, and we fought with them several times to keep them from achieving their goals."

She feels herself smiling a bit. Before everything, the thought of traveling into space might have been intimidating, but...getting to explore the universe, knowing what's out there, what could be out there, was an exciting thought.

It would also be nice to meet people who wouldn't be afraid of her - of Mutants - for what they can do.

"Oh, the Professor is great. He's really kind and caring, and keeps everything together. He can be a bit protective at times, but he's always encouraging us to grow and do our best."

[yondu]

"That's stupid." He says outright, without thinking about it. Both the normals not allowing the mutants to join them, or the mutants being too high and mighty to do anything.

"That's a dangerous path to head down. You start singlin' out people with powers and you end up with big ol' shitty Empires and feelin's of entitlement. There's still bad places out there, but there's plenty of good. Plenty of mixed. It's dangerous but sometimes you get to be the neat new thing people don't get to see much of.

"I say this but also I refused to get out of the ship in Missouri when I was pickin' up Quill."

Even he, a cosmic redneck, would not get out of the car in cornfield country.

[goingthroughaphase]

She nods a little. "I know, right? It's not like there haven't been people on Earth capable of doing bad things without powers or anything." History was full of people like that. "Being good or bad is just part of being a person. It doesn't matter if someone has powers or not."

His last comment though has her laughing a little. "Yeah well, as someone who grew up in Illinois, that was probably for the best."