Back home, new developments [Company Members,][NR]

Avery thought that Amaranth was likely right; if Darkman didn't give her a hug she would likely attempt to take one by 'force'. She just didn't like taking no as an answer when it came to hugs. A smile slipped across her face and then she looked back to Alec as he asked Darkman for some sort of artifact or something along those lines that would seal away his powers until he actually needed them. She didn't blame him for not wanting to use god-like powers, she too had got used to using very little powers at all due to that other world. She preferred, if it came down to it, a physical confrontation - it led to less mess and harm done to those nearby. "Hmm... that does seem logical after so long without something like that.", she added after thinking about it for a moment.

Artemis was picked up and giggled quite happily about the fact. She gave Darkman as big a hug as she could, and smiled brightly. Her halo continued to glow due to her happiness. She looked at her father and her brows furrowed as she thought about what he had said too, trying to make sense of it. Failing that she just went back to smiling happily at the fact that she had been picked up.

Amaranth listened to the conversation at hand, and saw out of the corner of her eye Niala squirm in her chair uncomfortable at the thought. Someone like Niala, who was so used to relying on powers and who hadn't spent years over in another world, would definitely probably be uncomfortable at the idea. Amaranth however... well, she understood exactly where her grandfather was coming from. She couldn't personally remember the last time she had used an actual power. She had simply begun to rely on her speed and her gunscythe just as her alter self, Mitsukai, had done. Given that the two were merged as one now, well it was more comfortable to just do things that way then to use powers.

"You know, I kind of like that idea myself. I never use my powers anymore. Ever since Mitsukai and I became one whole person I've used nothing but my speed and gunscythe when needed. Not that much trouble really rises up on my island... but still. Nothing good ever comes from playing god... I've seen that first hand." She raised her hand up and pinched at the bridge of her nose as she shook her head, still unable to believe that all of those zombies, injured people, and death had come from someone trying to be just like her grandfather and great grandfather. "Definitely would be better off not playing God anymore..."

Dad didn't want to use his powers and abilities anymore. He'd gotten used to being a ninja. Jr could respect that, but he was fine with using every ability he'd learned. Seeing as he was now the boss of Edge, there would probably come a time when he'd need them. Jr couldn't ever think of giving up the time powers created from the fusion of Phoenix and Angel, but if this was what his father really wanted to do, he'd respect that.

He yawned some as he began to look through cameras himself, to pass the time. Artemis seemed pleased to have finally met her great grandfather, and hoped that because of her, he'd start coming around more often.

Darkman listened to Alec speak. What he said eventually made him grin. He was right; the only reason he'd come up with all of those crazy powers to begin with was because of those troublesome Kingdom people. Alec had defeated them after over 10 years, and saw that there was no longer a reason to use them. So he didn't want to live up to the incredible power that a full blooded angel could wield anymore? That was fine with him.

Darkman put Artemis on the top of his head and began to rummage through his pockets. He had dozens of pockets all over him, in his trench, on his pants, on his kevlar vest. Eventually he came out with a chain, and wrapped it around Alec's left wrist There was a lock on it, and Darkman fastened it with a key, handing it to him afterwards.

Sealing Chain:

"This will seal away most of your abilities... but not all of them. Also, everything you learned in that ninja world can't be affected by this. But your major game changing powers like that Essence thing and that void thing of yours are sealed until you remove this. I know you'll put this to good use..."

Darkman gave another glance over to Jr, and to the attractive young lady sitting next to him. "So, grandson! How is the boss life treating you. Miss Niala here, is she your love interest?"

Alec looked at the bracelet given to him by his father. When he put it on, he could feel the majority of his supernatural abilities shut down, and he began to feel as he did in the ninja world, and also in Pacific City. It was a feeling he'd grown used to, and it made him grin; the fact that he'd have to rely on his own strength and power. The fact that he'd get tired and have to rest periodically, instead of just staying up all the time.

"Appreciated, Dad..."

For some reason Alec began to feel like getting in the middle of something else. it wouldn't be immediate though, he'd spend some time at home first and foremost. He'd have to go home to Makkura and let the ninjas know he was alright. He took off the hoodie from Pacific City and caused the Symbiote to become his usual hooded black cloak.

"So, what's been going on here? Besides you and Niala doing the humpty hump that is?"

Alec walked over and pulled his walking stick from Amaranth's belt, then strapped the Kane Katana back to his left side. He reached into his dufflebag and grabbed the sword stolen from the vampire hunter Cross, sliding it into the back of his belt.

When Darkman asked if Niala was Junior's love interest she almost dropped her frozen hot chocolate. She had been so focused on the screen in front of her as she surfed through one scene after the other, that what was actually being said in the office had become more like background noise. So, she barely caught her cup before it spilled all over the place.

When Alec asked what was going on, and mentioned her and Junior doing the humpty hump she really did drop her cup, all over herself and her desk. The smell of fried wires instantly filled the air as she muttered "Damnit" beneath her breath. Before her desk could actually catch fire she raised her hand over it and caused the liquid to raise up off of it and then herself. Both her desk and her clothing dried instantly as the liquid just hovered in the air; not even a stain where the frozen hot chocolate had landed on her dress being left behind. It was simply as if the spill had never happened. She focused on her cup and it up-righted itself before the liquid flew back inside of it where it settled instantly. The lid popped on following this and she grabbed the hovering cup out of midair. As her hand touched the cup it instantly filled back up to the top and she ensured her grip was on it in case any more comments about what her and Junior had supposedly been up to were said.

Her cheeks were a rosey color, almost matching the red color of her red eyes, and she purposely made no comment about what had been said; acting as if neither comment had been said, and acting as if she had never spilled her drink in the first place. Blushing like crazy she just returned to surfing through different video images, attempting to put more focus into it to hide from her own embarrassment.

Imagination Manifestation:

Avery watched Darkman shift Artemis to his head before digging through what seemed to her like a nearly endless supply of pockets. Figuring that she might as well get comfortable since Alec wanted a run down of what had happened while he was away in that zombie infested land she went and sat down in a comfortable nearby chair. She glanced to the chain that Darkman put around Alec's wrist, and listened as he explained what all it would stop Alec from being able to use unless it was taken off.

Artemis was absolutely over-joyed by her even higher position and squealed with happiness softly. She distracted herself by playing with Darkman's hair before glancing over to the chain that he hung around her father's wrist. "Pretty!", she exclaimed happily. Then her attention focused to Niala who spilled her cup all over the desk and herself, at least until she used some strange power to unspill the spill. Artemis' head tilted as her brow furrowed, trying to figure out how exactly she had done such a thing.

Avery focused her attention on Junior and Niala too, not blaming Niala for getting so red in the face from blushing, though she was glad she was able to stop the spill before it actually did catch her desk on fire, as the smell in the room indicated had been about to happen before she used her magic to fix the situation.

When her grandfather removed the stick sword she suddenly remembered she had it; she hadn't paid much attention to anything she had brought back with her really until that point in time. It reminded her that she still had the technological devices that Devon had given her before she left, as well as the zombie cure among a few other things.

Amaranth didn't keep quiet like Avery seemed to, and instead a giggle escaped her at the comments that both Darkman and Alec made. She covered her mouth with her hand to muffle the sound, but her shoulders still shook from laughter. When she removed her hand she bit her lip, still attempting very hard to stop laughing, especially after seeing Niala react in such a funny fashion by spilling her drink and then blushing as red as Amaranth's own cape.

"Whoops!"

"GNYAAAAAHHH! What the hell are you saying!" answered Jr with a furious frown. The familiar orange aura began to appear surrounding his form, but it did little to hide the red tint that seemed to instantly appear on his entire head. His father spoke up next, causing Niala to spill her drink next to him. He prepared to rewind time around her to clean it, but she used those imagination powers of her beforehand. "ARRRRRHHHHH!! You too, dad? Stop embarrassing me! It's nothing like that! I don't think Niala even likes me like that, quit being weird!"

Jr couldn't bring himself to look in Niala's direction now. Hi No Seishin was also laughing at Jr's reaction and his blushing face. He adjusted himself in the leather chair and frowned while looking at his desktop.

"I'll tell you what happened. That Remiel guy who snatched all the memories out of Demi's head back in the day, he went rouge and tried to take out one of your friends from the ninja world. Natalie or something like that. Said she was evil, and evil needed to be destroyed or some jazz. So I killed him. Your boy Maxi from INC and Nova, the cousin i've never met, they went and took over that Himi lady's city, named it Velo or something. I guess that Himi lady was powering that city with a girl, and it turns out that the girl was Maxi's long lost sister, her name's Seraphina. She'd been locked away for like 4,000 years. I gave her a stick sword similar to yours with something on it to help her blend in, showed up while Maxi was bawling like a baby. A few hours later some retard shows up and attacks her, so I had to kill him too."

"I never would have guessed that Jr was so violent. it was quite a sight to see," added Hi No. "I never would have been able to witness such violence in the other world. I'm glad I came here with you all..."

Darkman could feel his hair being pulled by tiny hands, but he didn't mind. He grinned some at their reactions. Honestly he didn't know if there were something going on between the two, but if there wasn't, he didn't see anything wrong with it, and there had to be something between them if both of their faces were turning red. Darkman thoroughly enjoyed poking fun at his family members.

He reached up to tickle Artemis' sides. "All of this murder so soon back from the world of ninjas. I happened to run into this Remiel character too, he was a lost cause. The way it was told to me, he was a guardian angel, but it seems he burned out... so your old colleague Maxi the Malkavian has a sister? Never would have imagined him crying like a newborn though."

Darkman adjusted his glasses. "No need to be modest, grandson. You're a growing boy, it's about time you sowed some wild oats, if you catch my meaning. Are you still a virgin? She seems to be about the right age. If not, I think she can imagine herself to be, especially with powers like those."

A sister locked away under Velo for 4,000 years? Maxi crying like a bitch? Remiel going rouge and being killed by Jr? A retard attacking the sister and also being killed by Jr? Well, it was nice to hear that things hadn't gotten boring in his time away.

"So, where was Maxi when this retard attacked his sister? Where is he right now, for that matter?"

Alec reached over the desk and typed in several commands. He moved several screens around until he came upon Sicarius, and who had to be Seraphina. Both of them looked to be alone. The sight of such began to make Alec frown, being reminded of the situation with Demi. She was killed, and he was nowhere to be found. When trying to jog her memories after she'd been resurrected, he barely had a hand in on that. He hadn't even tried to stop Alec when he put his own blood in her and changed her from a Vampire into an Angel.

Was the same thing about to happen again to Sicarius, his clone, and Seraphina, his sister? Alec be damned if it did. if he let his daughter die and be taken from him, what would his sister and his clone matter? He wasn't going to just stand there and allow it.

Niala listened to the mentioning of what had happened while Alec had been gone. She remembered it all, having watched it from the office. She had seen the girl that Remiel wanted to kill coming in and out of Zero Sum for several years, in fact since about the time she had first appeared. The girl never seemed to use any powers, or do anything wrong - unless you count working at a bar from the age of sixteen, but you had to do what you had to do to make money. "I saw that girl, she goes by Ka'lara now. She works at Zero Sum, has worked there since she showed up about five years ago. Doesn't even use her powers... no reason to kill her, she's done nothing wrong 'less you count working at a bar since the age of sixteen. Remiel just seems like a... " she glanced at Artemis, deciding not to swear "... like a rather nasty individual. Good thing he's dead." Niala didn't wish many people dead, but if you were going to attack someone without actual cause then you deserved what happened to you.

She glanced over to the screen as Alec pulled out a video feed of Seraphina and Sicarius: the girls looked to be by themselves. Niala simply shook her head... and then quickly wanted to die of embarrassment as she heard what Darkman said next.

If she could disappear she would; oh wait, she could. Niala turned so red that not only her entire face became the color of a ruby but so did her neck and ears. For a moment her 'wish' of sorts was granted and she faded slightly before forcing herself back into view; as if she were about to become invisible and suddenly thought better of it. She dropped a pen off her desk and took great effort to take as long as possible beneath her desk to get it back, hoping that her face didn't get any redder than it already was.

Avery just shook her head as she heard Junior describe what all had happened. Some of it she had known about because of how much time she had spent in the office since Alec had disappeared to Pacific City, but some of it she hadn't even fully known. She couldn't help but nod in agreement to the statement Niala said, despite her more pacifist nature given her being raised at an early age as a monk, a believer in peace.

However, the girl quickly turned even redder than she was previously at the fresh new comment Darkman made, and seemed to fade out and into sight before dropping a pen - something that Avery was sure was on purpose - and taking her good old time from fishing it out from underneath of her desk. Avery could only shake her head, wondering if the girl was just going to end up crawling under her desk and staying there, and also wondering what Juniors reaction was going to be.

Artemis just continued to happily play with Darkman's hair. She giggled loudly when she was tickled and squirmed slightly. "No! No tickling!", she exclaimed, completely oblivious still to the comments that Darkman was making and what they meant, as well as why Niala and Junior were so red in the face. "You guys look like apples!", she said with a giggle.

Amaranth listened to Junior explain all that had gone on while they were gone, and her laughing and grinning suddenly stopped. Her face became rather serious, a small frown tugging at the outer corners of her mouth. She looked over towards her grandfather and then back to Junior, having a feeling she knew what might be coming. She had a feeling she would be playing 'god' all too soon just as she had before when it came to Demi. She didn't have a problem with it of course, she just momentarily found herself wondering what Maximillian would do if he found out that she had a hand in not only taking one member of his family away from him, but three.

She then listened to Darkman say something again about Junior, but she didn't laugh. Instead, a thoughtful expression covered her face as she fell into deep thought over her process of changing someone over into another race. "Why do I get the feeling I might be playing god soon?", she asked thoughtfully.

Jr slapped a hand to his forehead when Atremis said they looked like apples. His grandfather seemed to always enjoy humiliating him in front of people. Hi No Seishin looked to be enjoying herself as well, hugging Jr's neck from behind while having herself a nice laugh. "Despite how embarrassing things may be, I do think you and Niala would make a nice couple Junior," she said, looking over towards Niala, who looked to be hiding underneath her desk. "See, just look how embarrassed Niala is! How cute!"

"Ugghhh, you too, Hi No? Cut it out, already! Grand dad quit being an old pervert!!" was Jr's response. With how Niala was hiding, he was sure she didn't like him that way. He knew situations in the office from this day on were going to be awkward.

As someone who'd mastered his rage and even harnessed it as a power to be used in a fight, he could pick up on the rising anger coming from within his father. A violent anger that reminded him of the night Demi died. He looked at the screens to see a couple of females that could possibly become more of his family members with what Amarath just said. Just what was it with this Maxi guy? Did he care about his family and friends at all? He expected his father to go flying off sooner or later...

The funny situation in the office was becoming serious. Darkman didn't much like serious situations anymore, not unless there was no avoiding it. He wasn't going to get involved in this.

He reached up to take Artemis off of his head to give her another hug and gentle squeeze. It had been a fine day; his son returned unharmed, his grand son was becoming a fine boss, and best of all he'd gotten to meet his great grandchild. After handing Artemis over to Avery, Darkman took an identical pair of sunglasses from an inside pocket of his trench and put them on Artemis.

"Alas, it seems an issue has arisen," Darkman said, rubbing the top of Artemis' head. "So I should get going, much wandering to be done. I'll come back when things are again calm, alright?"

Darkman turned to leave the office, whistling a strange tune that both Alec and Amaranth would recognize...

[Exit]

"Amaranth... there's a lab across the hall from this office. We could either do it here, or back on Sunset. I hate to have to keep asking you to do this, but you don't mind, right? Its for the best... You remember what happened to Demi..."

This sort of thing wasn't going to happen again, not if he had anything to do with it. He was going to take them out of that situation before anything bad could happen again, and anyone that tried to stop him was going to lose. So, after a Kiss to Avery's cheek and rubbing the top of Artemis' head, Alec was next to step over to the window, open it and dive out. When his wings engaged, not as powerful as they once were but still capable of keeping him airborne, Alec took off, disappearing into the horizon with the sheer velocity that caused clouds in the sky to part...

/Exit/

At Hi No's comment she forced herself to pick up the pen that she had previously been pretending that she didn't see and come out from beneath her desk. She was still red in the face from embarassment but after a deep breath she tossed her pen back into its cup holder on her desk and returned her eyes to the screen in front of her. She pressed a few buttons on her desk and the screen began to flip through one scene after another again.

Niala glanced over at Alec, also picking up on the shift of emotions within the room, and then glanced over to Amaranth at her comment. Niala sometimes wondered if one day all of these 'playing god' moments would catch up to all of them, but so far nothing festered in the future to suggest otherwise. Besides, she didn't blame Alec in the slightest if he decided to go over there and snatch up those two girls - this world wasn't a safe one, and from what she could tell while Sicarius was not human Seraphina was...

After Darkman left as well as Alec she figured Amaranth wasn't going to be too far behind in the leaving process and perhaps even Avery since she knew that Alec and everyone else was home safe in a manner of speaking. Therefore, after the room mostly emptied she cleared her throat and looked over to Junior. "So, as awkward as that was, to answer a statement you made now that everyone's gone... yeah, I kinda do like you like that.", when she finished speaking she was blushing even redder then she previously had, but at least she wasn't attempting to hide under her desk anymore: and it was true, she had had a crush on Junior since she had first saw him really, but Niala just wasn't usually the type of person to come out and say it, especially given that they worked feet apart from each other every day. "I just could have thought of about at least a half dozen less embarrassing ways to come out and say it, but there it is. Not like things could get much more awkward either way, after all."

Artemis returned Darkman's hug and then went back to her mother's arms willingly enough. When Darkman gave her the sunglasses she let out another soft squeal of happiness and grinned from ear to ear. "Thank you! I'll never take them off!", she exclaimed happily. After her father gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and a pat on her head she waved goodbye and then looked up at her mother. "Are we going home now?"

Avery nodded to her daughter and put her down. "Go say goodbye to Junior before we leave.", she encouraged, knowing Artemis wasn't going to willingly leave without a hug anyway.

Artemis ran as fast as her little feet would carry her and over to Junior, she hugged him, Niala, and even Hi No if she'd accept one before flying over to her mother and back into her arms.

"I should go let everyone know what's going on back home. I'll see you guys around.", Avery left the office after that, starting the travel back to Makkura to update everyone.

[Exit]

So, two new Kane's were going to be changed over by her hand? It wasn't like she didn't know what she was doing, and the process was easy enough. She knew this was for the greater good so she gave her grandfather a nod. "I'll do it. I think we should do it over on Sunset though, I'm sure my mom and dad are anxious to see me, and I want to let them know I'm alright. Meet me at my lab when you've got them."

She waved goodbye to everyone and stepped over to the window. After opening she stepped outside and simply stood on the air. She closed the window behind herself before taking off towards Sunset Island, hoping all the while that she wasn't in too much trouble when she got there.

[Thread Exit]

One by one everyone started to leave. His dad jumped out of the window, probably to go get Sicarius and Seraphina. His Grand dad left to go back to wandering since now everything was getting serious. He hugged his little sister when she came over, as did Hi No Seishin, being careful not to burn her with her flames. He waved to Avery before she left with her. He also waved to Amaranth before she left.

Then, alone in the office with Niala now, it registered what she said. She liked him? He looked confused, but Hi No looked ecstatic. His face somewhat red, but not as red as it was when Darkman was teasing him. He never had any idea, even being next to her in that office everyday. He scratched his left hand through the mop of white hair atop his head, then ejected his Hidden Blade several times, unable to think of anything to say.

This wasn't to say he didn't like her as well. It should have been evident with his red face. He did like her, but he'd began to think of her as a sister. "Well, don't be all shy now, Junior! You certainly don't have to be shy because i'm here, i'm part of you. She just confessed to you, don't you have anything to say? You like her too, don't you?"

"Well yeah, why not?..." Jr replied.

"Then why don't you two start going out? I hate to have seen you by yourself all of that time over in the other world, and your grandfather is right, you're a growing boy. Most boys your age are horny perverts, but you aren't like that at all! Especially with this pretty girl next to you everyday! Don't you wish you could get your hands on this hot body?" Hi No wasn't shy and was straightforward. While she said this, taking care not to burn her, she put arms around Niala and rubbed cheeks with her, at the same tome having a feel of her chest area. "Wow, you have such nice breasts, Niala! Can I fondle them?"

It was then that the full red showed on Jr's face."ARRRRHHHHH! Don't molest her, Hi No! This is like... not right, you know!..."

Niala watched as Junior's face reddened again and she had a feeling that this time around it wasn't so much out of embarassment and perhaps had something to do with the fact that he probably liked her too. When Junior verbally confirmed the assumption she had made her own face turned a slightly darker shade of red: the idea caused a butterfly type effect deep in her gut. In truth she had likely never given him any inclination of how she had felt, but Niala was a rather shy individual when it came to such things. However, with all of the joking and teasing that had gone on today, it had just seemed pointless to keep it hidden any longer like she had said.

Of course, she had also said that things couldn't get any more awkward, but they did as Hi No came over and rubbed her cheek against her own before coping a feel. "Baw, no fondling, Hi No!", Niala exclaimed as her face, neck, and ears turned a very deep shade of crimson.

Niala thought about what Hi No had suggested though, about her and Junior going out, and she wasn't opposed to the idea. Junior had indeed been a perfect gentleman when it came to her, compared to the few other times she had bothered spending a prolonged period of time around people around their age: she could still remember some of the weirdo's from the cafe she used to go to often before being hired on at the Company all of those years ago, and the few times she had gone back throughout the years.

Alec opened the window to escort both the girls into the office. It only took about 5 seconds to get back here from Velo. As expected, he met no resistance in taking them from there and bringing them here. Both of them had to have looked around this nearly endless city with fascination, and also at this huge building which seemed to stretch up into space.

"Watch your step, ladies. The last thing we need is someone to fa--THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN HERE!?"

Alec looked puzzled to step in and see Hi No copping a feel on Niala, and Jr ejecting and retracting his Hidden Blade in an obvious perverted manner. Alec wasn't exactly mad. He hadn't heard about Jr getting friendly with a female since way back, during that "Rebecca" incident; the end result being him killing her by knocking her out of a window on the 999th floor.

"Uh... Yeah. We have guests, you two. You can resume your orgy when we're done here, alright?"

Go out with Niala?... That would mean she would be his girlfriend, right? He hadn't had anything like that since... a time he didn't like thinking back to. Would this be a good idea though? Cozy with a girl that could imagine anything and bring it to life? If she got mad, bad things could happen...

Then the window opened and his father came in with Sicarius and Seraphina. He stopped ejecting his Hidden Blade, his face still red, and pulled down his sleeve. Hi No stopped feeling on Niala and winked at her while whispering in her ear: "We'll do more of this later, alright?"

"Dad! Gaaaahh!!"

Hi No Seishin was a pervert who also liked girls? There would be more to learn about her too. Shaking off these thoughts for now, he waved to both Seraphina and Sicarius. "Nice to see you both again," he said...

Sicarius looked around as she was put back down inside of the office of the tallest building she had ever laid eyes on, or heard about for that matter. She looked around with eyes filled with bubbling child like curiosity. When Alec let out a shout she looked over to take notice of Junior behind the desk messing with a weapon, and two females who looked more than comfortable - or rather, one did, the other was so red Sicarius was kind of expecting her to explode.

"Hello again, Mister Junior.", she responded to the greeting.

A small giggle escaped Sicarius before she took a few steps around, not touching anything but still looking around. After several seconds though she forced herself to refocus on Alec Kane. "So what was it that you wanted to show us, Mister Kane?", she asked curiously, head tilting to the side as she waited for an answer. Her cat ears twitched about her head and her tail swayed back and forth, causing the bells that hung from it to jingle softly. The only bell that didn't ring on her was the one at her neck which she made great care to leave alone - that bell held power, a lot of it, and she had no intentions of accidentally using it.