How Grounded Am I? [Ghost, Destiny, or Invite] [NR]

After Amaranth landed on the familiar beach she could see her underground lab just where it always was; beneath the ocean nearby. However, she didn't move towards it yet, and instead just looked around. Everything seemed to be in its rightful place, and everything seemed to be in order. She had had so much fun on that adventure with her grandfather and Vigilante that she hadn't honestly thought about her island at all. Being back only made her sigh, while she loved the place very much, she loathed the idea of being stuck back behind a desk. All of that action and adventure had sparked something in her blood that had her craving more: perhaps not of the zombie variety but something. She too didn't want to use her powers though, she preferred her gunscythe.

But, those thoughts were for another time. She needed to let her family know she was back, and see how much trouble she had got herself into.

"Mom? Dad? I'm home!", she called out. She didn't know exactly where they were at that exact second in time, but she was sure they'd likely hear her, and if not then she would just have to resort to searching for them.

Destiny had been in and out of Amaranth's lab, keeping track of not only the island but also keeping an eye on the feeds she had brought up on Amaranth's own various monitors and screens that showed what was going on in Pacific City as well as Edge when they all returned. She had kept them running constantly, with only one screen dedicated to the news channel that was kept on low in the background - a way of keeping tabs on what was going on, if anything, with the island.

Things had been peaceful, at least on the island, but Destiny's nerves were frayed and her temper short. She hadn't liked the fact that Amaranth was off in Pacific City like that, battling zombies and putting herself at risk, but she also knew she was lucky something like this hadn't happened sooner. Destiny herself had been in wars and battles since the age of four, they had been lucky enough that Amaranth had waited until the age of fifteen to start her own little adventures out in the world.

Destiny had been about to go into the lab to check on things again when she sensed Amaranth's arrival and changed directions. She headed down to the beach, hearing Amaranth as she called out to her and Ghost, and announced that she was home. Despite her anger at Amaranth pulling a disappearing act she was still glad she had made it home, and therefore pulled Amaranth into a sudden hug before saying, "If you ever think of pulling a disappearing act like that on your father and I again I'll lock you in that lab and throw away the key, young lady. Worried sick doesn't even begin to describe how things have been." She released her daughter and took a step back, still at odds on if she wanted to beat her ass, or just accept that her daughter wasn't the type of person to sit back and do nothing when her family was in trouble.

The area around them both would suddenly become dark and foreboding. The area nearby, which had the most concentration of darkness, there were a pair of eyes. A pair of evil, frowning eyes that were glowing red.

The eyes began to get bigger. There were several violent lightning strikes. The sand underfoot began to swirl and churn like a whirlpool, or a tornado. "TO THINK THAT YOU WOULD LEAVE HERE WITHOUT PERMISSION AND ENTER A DANGEROUS SITUATION IN WHICH YOU COULD HAVE DIED," said an echoing voice that resembled a wizard or a villain. "YOOUUUUUU--"

Then suddenly all of the special effects ended and there was seen sitting Ghost in the sand. He looked just like he always did, with a white t-shirt, green cargo pants, and that giant red cape, flapping about as if it were alive. He didn't have any shoes on, and his black hair stuck out like he'd just put his finger in a power outlet. A pair of goggles were on his forehead.

Ghost was eating a sandwich. He didn't look angry or pissed off at all. "Just kidding," he said. "I was kinda mad at first, and I may have over-reacted when I first found out, but you were with Alec and that superhero guy on all of the billboards and posters, so I wasn't worried..."

A hug? She could deal with a hug. At least her mother wasn't yelling at her even if she did threaten to ground her if she pulled a stunt like that again without saying something.

But, then the area began to change, darken, and she figured she was about to be in a hell of a lot of trouble as she caught sight of the eyes. As the loud voice filled her ears she winced and hung her head. At least... until all of the darkness cleared to reveal her father sitting there and eating a sandwich. His next words said he wasn't really angry, that he had been at first, but had calmed down since she was over there with her grandfather and Vigilante.

"I didn't mean to worry you guys, I really didn't. Mom had left with Artemis, and then Junior had said that they couldn't send over the cure mom made right away because it might give away grandad and V's position. I knew I could get it over there, I wouldn't have gone if I didn't think I could make it. So I decided to bring it over myself. I'll make sure I tell you guys if something comes up again, though, so you don't worry."

She reached up and scratched at her head a bit. She still couldn't believe that she wasn't ground or something like that, but she wasn't going to complain or anything. "Uh by the way, Niala should be coming over soon to help me upgrade the island a bit... I kind of want to add a few more seasonal areas; some snow areas, mountains and stuff. Uh, grandad's probably going to show up too at some point with a couple of people. I guess Maxi's messing up again, that's what he said anyway."

Destiny released Amaranth and stood by, glancing over to the show that Ghost was putting on. When all of the darkness cleared away she chuckled softly. She nodding along with what her father said about being angry at first and then calming down. "Yeah, I was pretty angry myself when I heard of what you did. But, at least you're older than I was when I started going on adventures, and you were with two people who would have made sure you were safe. And I saw you weren't being reckless, cause I was watching you from the lab. I saw you were being careful with yourself, and not taking risks."

She listened to what Amaranth said and frowned slightly in deep thought. "He gonna have you do to them what he asked you to do to Demi? Change them into Kane's?", she asked curiously. She wasn't quite sure how Amaranth had done it the first time, but she knew it had something to do with that lab of hers, so it was likely through some sort of science instead of magic, or so she figured.

Ghost was content with his sandwich. Amaranth was fused with another girl named Mitsukai, who'd been trained by a ninja named Spook from that other dimension. Spook was another version of Alec, and supposedly in that other world the guy was a feared super hero. Once that realization hit him, added on to the fact that she was with Alec and Vigilante, he wasn't worried at all.

However, it was when Amaranth said that Alec planned on showing up with 2 people, and that Maxi was messing up again, this is what caught Ghost's attention. Destiny just added to it by saying that there would be others scientifically added into the Kane family, just as Demi had been after she was killed and resurrected.

"Maxi messing up again?... Uhhhh. What's up with that guy..." Ghost asked, shaking his head. "Putting it all together through the years, i'm starting to see him in a whole new light... I think Alec is too."

"Yeah, I don't really know how... I wasn't paying much attention to it all. I just heard that Maxi found his sister who had been trapped beneath Shinkai Shigai for over four thousand years, and was crying and stuff when Junior had gone over there." Amaranth paused, pinching at the bridge of her nose in stress, unable to believe that she had helped that Himitsu lady and had given her more powerful abilities while she was using people like that. "Anyway, I guess when grandad looked at the monitors up in Darkman tower he didn't see Maxi or anyone around, just Maxi's sister and his clone, I think that's what grandad called her."

"So, yeah, he's gonna have me turn them into Kane's too. I dunno though... I don't like playing god, it can go wrong.. or bad things could happen. I'll do it for grandad of course, and because I think in this situation it's right. I just hope Maxi doesn't find out I'm the one helping in all of this, I don't want trouble..."

Destiny just shook her head, unable to believe that once again Maxi was messing up from what they were being told. A sigh escaped her and then she saw Amaranth pinching the bridge of her nose like she did when stressed. Destiny had an idea of what she was thinking about and reached over, pulling her into a one arm hug. "Listen. Don't stress out over Himitsu. People like that always get what's coming to them in the end. You didn't know she had that poor girl trapped like that, and you wouldn't have helped her if you did let alone given her all of those powers. Hell, you would have mounted a rescue team and gone to save her and Himitsu probably would have been eating the end of a shotgun, because that's the good hearted person you are. So don't beat yourself up too badly over that, alright?"

She then listened as Amaranth actually voiced her next concern; unlike the silent one she had picked up on. Maxi... would he react when he found out that it was Amaranth who had technically made it possible for three members of his family to be taken away from him? Would he come over here and try and do something about it? What about Nova? Would he react some kind of way? Destiny just shook her head, she wouldn't let anyone lay a hand on her daughter, no matter who they were.

Then again the smoke and evil eyes appeared, along with swirling winds and loud lightning strikes. "YOU DARE TO LAY A FINGER UPON MY OFFSPRING?? HOW DARE YOU, HEATHEN!! FEEL MY WRATH!!" came the booming Wizard of Oz-like voice again. A small city rose up out of the sand, with many millions of sand people running for their tiny sand lives. Meteors and rocks began to fall out of the black substance, destroying the sand city and killing the sand people by the droves....

But then it all ended quickly just like before and everything returned to normal as Ghost finished off his sandwich. "Nah, i'm just joking. I'm weird, I know. But in all seriousness, if anyone calls themself coming over here to take their anger out on you, they'll have to go through me first. Me and Maxi went at it a couple of times before, and both times he ran from your old man. And I wasn't even being serious. Imagine if I was, though..."

Ghost, in all honesty, didn't want to fight Maxi. He'd once looked up to the guy as a hero, but with everything adding up like it was, he didn't know what to think of him anymore. He was rarely around, and wasn't there when Demi died. From the way it was told, he barely had a hand in at trying to recover her memories after her resurrection.  What the future would bring, who knew...

Amaranth looked over to her mom as she gave her a one armed hug and leaned against her with a small smile. "I know I shouldn't beat myself up, mom. I just can't help but think of how horrible that had to have been, being trapped like that."

She then looked over to what her father made appear and watched the destruction as the sand people ran around. A giggle escaped her and a full smile spread across her face. "I know. I heard stories of how you and mom were when you were younger, but I didn't know you had fought Maxi before.", she grinned fully. "So, I know you all wouldn't let anything happen to me, I just don't like having enemies like that."

"I suppose I should go get things ready for when grandad gets here." She gave her mother a hug and then went over to her father, leaned down, and gave him one too. "And grab a bite to eat, you're making me hungry with that sandwich."

"I remember getting into a fight with Maxi... it started to get drawn out because he kept dodging everything I threw at him. In the end I ended up summoning your father, there was no dodging him.", she said with a grin. She remembered that fight pretty clearly, and it still amused her to think about. "Your dad and I used to kick a lot of butt fighting side by side. I kind of miss those days..."

"I might go make myself a sandwich, too...", she said after she had returned Amaranth's hug. "Then I think I'm going to go patrol around the island for a bit, make sure everything is alright. I think it's a good idea that you're increasing the island, it'll help with the wildlife, and give the people something else to do."