Lady Reiki/Invasion
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
((The experience of one Lady Reiki during the renewal of the Rikti Invasion. As always, odd uses of grammar and punctuation cannot be blamed upon anyone but myself. Please leave any comments, or notes on anything you think needs editing in the discussion section. Thanks for reading this! ^_^))
July 24, 2007
Kina was stretched out on one of the benches in Perez Park that hadn’t been vandalized and stared at the sky, while Petey investigated how far the leash would reach (not far enough) and if running around the bench in circles would improve things (no). Kina paid only slight attention to him, letting the bright blue morning sky overhead fill her vision while her thoughts continued to bounce around as they had all evening.
“I hafta find my toaster,”… geez, you surely could’ve come up with something better then that.
Though, it was true… couldn’t let poor Petey continue t’ fend fer himself.
The toaster in question had given up on escaping the confines of its leash and had settled on the ground underneath the bench, its five legs neatly tucked underneath its silver body. It looked around with an air of attentiveness – quite a feat considering it lacked a face. It had gotten to toast all kinds of different items the previous night as it had wandered with Kina through the park and hoped that perhaps more strange toastables would come its way. This part of the park was quiet, however. Word had quickly traveled that some hero was rampaging through the area all night and the place had become quite deserted as Kina took out her anger and confusion on every mage and thug she set her eyes on. Well, it still had this small trophy to play with.
CHNK
The scrap dropped into the depression as Petey’s coils began to heat up. Kina absent-mindedly gave him a pat. The jumble of emotions that had plagued her all night – be honest, you’ve been worked up since you found out from her – even the sky didn’t seem big enough to hold all these feelings. She had been caught off guard when he had shown up last night. His chi was the one that she could pick out from millions, even if he were miles away. That he had come up behind her without her noticing had disconcerted Kina and tossed any of the half-formed thoughts she had planned on saying to him completely out of her mind.
That coulda gone better.
No kidding.
You ranted like a crazy person then chickened out and ran off.
Dammit, though, he deserved an ass-kickin’.
Stupid Thanny.
CA-CHUNK
A scrap of leather garnered last night from some unfortunate Skull’s jacket was now toasted to perfection. Petey waited a few minutes, but the scrap remained.
CHNK
He’s leavin’ me, too.
You’re the one that left.
CA-CHUNK
That’s jist ‘cause…
Because why?
…Anyways, he shoulda tol’ me right away
Would you have been any happier about the news?
CHNK
Why her? Why one o’ ‘em?
She’s never done anything to you, you know.
I know, I know! I jist… crap, when did ever’thing get all messed up? I don’t know why I got all… but I don’t get ‘im anymore. Hell an’ a half, I can’t even tell where he is anymore… I think there’s somethin’ wrong wit’ me.
CA-CHUNK
You think? Let’s see, you haven’t slept properly for a year now, your powers have been on the fritz for a while now, and the only person you’ve talked to recently more then yourself is a toaster. And, that bunch of strays you’ve gathered, despite what you tell yourself, is just a cobbled, substitute fam-
CHNK
Kina glanced down just in time to see a small flame burst from the toaster.
“Ack! No, bad Petey! Spit tha’ out right now!”
The toaster reluctantly ejected the burnt piece of leather and Kina hastily stomped out the flames that had engulfed it. She sighed as she gave up trying to put her thoughts into order.
“C’mon, Petey, let’s get ya back t’ th’ others.”
She untangled the leash from the bench and, after a brief hesitation, headed to the Row via Galaxy City. She didn’t see anyone she knew in Galaxy this time, for which she was thankful. Kina was on her way to Wentworth’s on the off chance any of the baubles she had picked up in the past day were worth some extra cash when the calls started coming in.
Fleets of Rikti ships… War Walls down… across the globe…
She listened in disbelief as her mind tried to comprehend. Something felt as though it was pricking her skin all over and with a sense of foreboding, Kina looked up. The sky had gone a ghastly shade of green, even worse then normal for the oft-polluted Row. Sirens started going off and panicked people began running. The War Walls flickered and then…
Kina had never felt so beat-up in her life. Her ears were ringing and spots still filled her vision from all the explosions. She had cuts, bruises, and a headache from being caught in a psychic crossfire that was worse then any hangover she had ever had. A quick glance at the other heroes who had rallied to the city’s defense showed that most everyone had not escaped the fight without some damage. Those with healing capabilities were running ragged to help everyone possible; some heroes had already been sent to the hospital with emergency teleports. Search and Rescue crews were going through the rubble looking for anyone trapped underneath. Some of the heroes who were still standing joined the searchers, helping move the rubble and taking care of destroying the occasional unexploded bombs. Kina sent Petey into piles of rubble that were too small for a person to fit through. Fresh crews of rescue workers, both civilian and hero, quickly arrived and relieved Kina and the others. With nothing to do at the moment, Kina’s mind quickly started up and went into overdrive.
Oh gods – they can do magic!
So friggin’ many o’ ‘em!
Th’ Walls were breached…
What’s happenin’ elsewhere?
Where’s th’ others? They okay?
Her feet had carried her to a familiar street. Finally on familiar ground, Petey happily trotted ahead to the converted storage trailer it shared with the other Peteys, Chitters and Kina. CLINK. Kina accidently kicked the toaster as it came to a sudden stop in front of her.
“No…”
A smoking crater occupied the space where the trailer had sat.
“No no no.. Chitt? Peteys? C’mon, quit playin’ ‘round! Chitters?!”
Her comm crackled as she stared numbly at the empty space.
WARNING! Rikti ships have been detected heading to Steel…
“Heh.”
DANGER! Rikti invasion forces have been spotted in Steel. All non-combatives are instructed to take cover…
“Heh heh… Ha ha ha HA HA HA!”
