Garrett and Isabel? She'd passed them in the halls, chatted over stitches but nothing more. She had no specific love for those people. Of course, Any Abyss did... Lori just shrugged. She didn't really have any love of the Order or Sanctuary either, but she had kept the two separate for a reason... which did bring to mind the question of how he knew specific names.

"I kept you separate for your own safety." There was no venom in her voice. Just ... defeat. That safety was now moot because of her carelessness. Abyss of all people would not let one of Jacen's abilities roam freely, would he? Her heart was suddenly jackhammering against the back of her ribs. Mars didn't know yet. He hadn't entered the field... there was still a chance.

Maybe Jacen didn't give a flying flip what happened to her, but Lori still cared what happened to Jacen. She'd heard worser insults from a dog walker and she had to believe they were just a heat of the moment thing. They could still be shower buddies, right?

“it’ll be ok.” Lori breathed a 'heh' of disbelief. Mars was... unbelievable sometimes. If he was any more understanding about things, she was going to have to claw out his eyes. It would be okay... someday, sure. But today? Or anytime soon? Was this her fault? Had she not been clear? Or had Jacen actually convinced her for a time that one man would be enough?

“If you’d like me to try to repair the damage done, I could try.” He took her chin in hand. One last intimate gesture before he would go off to battle. "What are you going to do? Hold him down and I'll talk at him?" Lori shook her head. This was probably un-fixable as long as Mars was present. She felt a little guilty whispering about Jacen right in front of his face. "Don't get close to him, okay? 8 to 10 feet if you can manage. He's got an ability that packs enough punch that I steered him well away from the Sanc."

Mars, of course, had something very interesting to say... “ ...If you still want his attention, take his side in a minute. I’ll still be here for you either way.”

The urge to hit Mars was very strong and she really didn't understand why. There really wasn't time anyway. Jacen had one last hurtful thing to say. "I'll ship your stuff to you. Have a nice life, Lori. Maybe your next boy toy won't be stupid enough to let feelings get involved." No more showers. No more cuddles or failed attempts at pancakes, no more dancing. He didn't want any more. Mars and Jacen fulfilled two very different roles for her. Mars never asked anything of her. He was a perpetual safety net. Jacen on the other hand, always asked more of her. If she hadn't come up short, Jacen would have won out in the end. Because who would pass up a challenge over someone who made things far too easy? This was just one more failure on a pile that was already dangerously large.

Lori shook her head and actually cringed for the sound Jacen's car made. Well, that was one way to keep Jacen from leaving. She really would have killed that flower if she were left to her own devices so that insult had never hurt. She was a horrible caretaker. But she did feel bad for the car. Poor car. He never did anything to deserve that.

"That was a rather low blow." Lori leaned against her rust bucket. She'd started this Saturday alone. It was quite likely that she would also end it that way. If she saw an opening for redemption, she would take it in a heartbeat, but... she just hoped these boys knew the rule of chick flick. Not that she was guaranteed to abide by it, but if they knew what to expect then perhaps the end of this would not be a complete loss. If two guys fight in front of a girl, the one who gets beat up the most is going to get comforted. Unfortunately, the one more likely to end up hurt here was Mars.... should she go around back and get the hose before this got too heated? It was looking like a better and better idea.

Jacen's hand was just touching the doorhandle of his truck when Mars decided to reaffirm his presence by showing just what a manly mutant he truly was. Slowing dropping into a crouch, Jacen stared at the damage to his axle with his back still to the love birds. Jacen could feel his emotions turning more and more toward pure anger as he stared at what had just been done to his most prized posession. Sure, he knew this was a truck and it was made to get beat up by driving off road. In fact, that's what he used it for when he went hunting but that was damage that he caused. For someone else to touch his truck... well... the girl that had shot his floorboard had just been lucky that she was a female.

"You had to go make it personal." Jacen voice was low as he stood up and pivoted, his eyes locking on the big man's form. There wasn't the slightest trace of fear in his eyed as the man began to walk towad Mars, his fists clenching together into the powerful fists he had used in countless battles. He had no clue exactly what would happen to big red when he entered his aura, and quite frankly, Jacen didn't give a damn either. Maybe he'd get unlucky and the guy's muscle mass would stick around for some reason but he didn't care. This idiot has chosen to step in and not only seduce Lori but he had also damaged Jacen's truck!

Suddenly accelerating into a jog and then a flat out run, Jacen's eyes bored into the red man. He had no clue what this guys fighting ability was besides his strength but he did know that if he could get the guy in range and surprise him with his field then he just might be able to get this over really quick.

"NEVER TOUCH A MAN'S TRUCK!" Jacen gritted through his teeth as he quickly closed the distance. His plan was to get in range and then leap into a flying jump kick centered on the big man's stomach. If his field worked then maybe the guy would shrink and he'd do some damage. If his field didn't work... well... the hospital was a great place to get away from the world in general.

"That was a rather low blow."

“I heard red necks like their trucks.”

"You had to go make it personal."

“really? I am just now making this personal? Hmmm.”

Mars watched him Run toward him and ignored Lori’s advice, he wasn’t quite sure if he was going to be ready for it or not. She kept him away from the order to keep him safe? Or to keep the sanctuary safe? Or to keep him out of their hands. He would have to congratulate her on not being an absolute sheep sometime. He planted his left foot forward and set his fists ready to defend himself.

It happened in an instant. They simply were…He simply was, one Human man.

Else where five clones and an original simply blinked into nothingness dropping what they were doing with out a hint of what was to come.

It was about that time that six other minds hit him like a brick and coalesced with his own. He dropped a hefty chunk of weight in muscle mass he dropped down a few inches. His skin turned white with a slight tan. His tail fail onto the ground turning first into black void and then nothing. His clothes hung loosely on him like he were some sort of gang banger that liked to wear clothing two sizes two big. Luckily his legs were set in the stance they were or they might have feel off all together.

He was stunned but it was almost natural. His mind, his singular mind, was so unanimously outraged at the man before them. and almost a bit overloaded all of the experiences of the seven flowed into one single life. He Cared for the woman behind at the same time he loathed her and lusted after the spunky blonde that he had stolen from himself.

He was about six two or three, his hair was black and spiky, his goatee black. His body was thick in a way that spoke of years in the gym lifting amounts of weight that took its toll on a body repeatedly. He carried an uncanny resemblance to his sisters. It might have only been in the fact that they all wore a rebellious nature like a crown from on high.

His minds…a blend of Genius, psychopath, warrior, cynic,hoodlum,mob boss and lover. His mind a balanced yet very unbalanced scheme now hung there in the balance. Avello, No never that name again. Earth looked at the foolish man running toward him and he couldn’t help but relish what was about to come.


"NEVER TOUCH A MAN'S TRUCK!"

Venus’s influence glimmered through in his come back. “A fool Worries about a machine when a Goddess is at stake.” That was a show for the woman, The real fight would be the blasphemous treachery he committed here on his mutant blood.

The man leapt, kicked and landed a solid blow to his stomach that knocked the breath from his lungs. A solid hit But unfortunately for Jacen, his arms had also managed to Latch onto the leg. A guttural growl escaped his leaps as he Twisted the foot around, hopefully forcing the man to the Ground. From there he would incapacitate him and discuss his worth with Lori. If he indeed had his way about it, this would be the man’s last mistake.

((OOC permission given to shovel some Earth))

He... deflated. And the red pigmentation of his skin seeped out like the blood was all seeping out of him. As if he were horrified... but he didn't look horrified. He looked angry and in control all at the same time. Mars flipped Jacen around and somehow Lori was able to see the resemblance... Syn. Oh goodness. Syn was his sister? Geez. Maybe she shouldn't have gone and made her angry... or maybe, she would have done so anyway.

“A fool Worries about a machine when a Goddess is at stake.” Mars was swinging Jacen toward the ground and while she was sure Jacen could take care of himself and... and Mars could take care of himself. But who was going to take care of Lori? Besides, those pretty words didn't sound entirely like Mars. Was he showing off for the fresh meat? She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. She went for the shovel.

Lori was about to take care of Lori. He'd said that she should side with Jacen in a bit anyway. Mars would forgive her. He always did.

BONG.

The sound echoed farther than she ever imagined it would... she actually checked to see if she'd dented the shovel rather than denting the back of Mars' head. He stiffened and Lori nudged him forward to fall onto Jacen. Knocked out or not, his weight would best be served to pin down a fighting Jacen.

Her teeth scraped along her lower lip. She could and couldn't believe what she'd just done. The shovel clattered to the ground and Lori went to sit on Mars' pallid shoulders. Well, they weren't pale, but they weren't red either. She sniffled. No... this wouldn't work if she were not strong enough. Lori quashed down the fear and regret and reached for the comforting cloak of anger.

"You." Lori frowned down at Jacen, the bottom of this rather human looking dog pile. "I can hardly believe you... Do you not know the promise of something without a real taste?" That was practically how she did business. It never worked if she actually delivered. It was all in the dangling of the carrot. "I have not been with anyone," which was not quite the accomplishment that it sounded considering her methods, "since we met. Not even this one." True, he'd found her in her skivvies with a stranger, but she was calling it off before she ever knew he was planning to throw things at her. "Maybe that would have changed before you showed up... maybe not. Guess we'll never know."

Only then, after she'd said her piece, did she bother to check Mars' head. She hadn't broken him, had she? Lori huffed a sigh. Stupid. This was all stupid.

Emotion had taken control which meant that even though his actions were infused with passion, they were also filled with stupidity. As soon as Jacen's feet left the ground his rational mind regained control as it screamed in outrage. What kind of idiot left his feet in the middle of a fight? Sure, a jump kick could give a great amount of power but if your enemy was quick enough it left you vulnerable.

As the mutant's hands grabbed onto his ankle Jacen's mind was going a mile a minute. His anger was fuel... power to be burned but it was never good to let the fuel control where the vehicle went. That was up to something less explosive.

Instead of fighting against his bigger and still stronger opponent, Jacen went along with the motion. As his foot was twisted and he was force toward the ground, he twisted his shoulder violently so that he began to roll his body as soon as he touched the ground. Reacting instinctively his free foot lashed out for the giant's face, trying to get some sort of shock and leverage that would allow him to escape.

BONG!

The grip on Jacen's ankle loosened but even as he rolled onto his back the giant toppled down to fall across him. Thankfully his right arm was still free but unfortunately he would be hard pressed to get enough leverage with just one arm to push the larger man off of him. Hard pressed, but not impossible. At least not until Lori came over and sat on the big man's shoulders, increasing the weight that now rested on top of Jacen.

His eyes narrowed and his lips pressed tightly against each other in a thin line as he looked up at the woman that had stolen his heart and then tossed it aside like it was a piece of trash or one of those "knick knacks" that she apparently despised so much.

"I can hardly believe you... Do you not know the promise of something without a real taste?"

"I'm afraid I never tried that." Jacen retorted immediately, "Obviously if I practiced that I never would have gotten in this situation with you."

"I have not been with anyone, since we met. Not even this one. Maybe that would have changed before you showed up... maybe not. Guess we'll never know."

"I guess not." Jacen snorted as he gave the dead weight above him a firm shove that managed to shift the weight slightly but not actually free him, "You know Lori, all you had to say was that you wanted to see other people at the same time. That's it. You want to know why I'm ticked? Because you had to go and say you loved me. What he hell do you think that is? Just some cheap phrase that can be tossed around because you slept with someone and happen to like them?"

There were lots of people in the world that treated the word 'love' just like that so Jacen really shouldn't have been surprised but he was. His family had been an average, normal family and so he'd seen what 'love' really was. He'd learned at a young age that it wasn't just some cheap word you used to get into a girl's skirt. "And worse... I said it."

A foot had planted itself on his jaw while the other one was firmly in his grip He grimaced and pushed his neck forward, if he was still in his true form he could have snapped the opposing ankle with only his neck muscles. But no he was human right now, he was Earth and he was not pleased. He began to raised foot to smash the opposing leg to the ground when a whistling of air buzzed behind his hand and then the crescendo after words left him dizzy.

With his face braced against the foot it left no room for his head to move forward when his hard skull made the shovel ring like a bell, he saw the vibrations, for a moment everything was bright and vibrant and then everything struck him wit h a dull dark pain. was he in the void? no....the void didn't hurt like this. if the shovel didn't at least have a smudge of blood, he'd be surprised... who got hit with a shovel again?

He toppled forward and vaguely heard a couple speaking around him civil but menacing all at once. Were they speaking English? Or were the speaking underwater? English under water?

He let a dull moan escape his leaps as his body lay on something that wiggled beneath him and something left a small pressure on top, of something. Where was he? His eyes blinked and tried to make sense of the brown that had a spiky green patch coming toward his eyes.

The noise around him, the words hurt his mind. He groaned again and his fingers wiggled as feeling came back to them. He felt nauseated. Why wouldn’t the thing under him quit moving and behave like the thing on top of him? If he had the energy he would tell the things. He would.

"...Obviously if I practiced that I never would have gotten in this situation with you."

And that was the crux of the matter right there. Lori sighed and used the hem of her shirt to dab at the trickle of blood dribbling out the back of Mars' head. He didn't get it. Maybe she didn't either, but he didn't seem to thinking properly, just spiteful.

"Think for a moment." She had to bite back a snide 'if you can' type comment. There were enough hurtful words flinging upward out of his mouth that she liked to think they were just falling right back toward the point of origin. "Did I tease you?"

Lori hardly had to shift her weight to compensate for the shove from Jacen into the meat of Mars. He went on a bit less angrily. Point for him. "But I'm not seeing Mars..." Actually, was she seeing Jacen? Man this relationship crap was sticky business. It'd been a long time since she'd actually tried to be in one, and she was fast remembering why it was the worst idea ever. "Did I not tell you that you'd regret ever meeting me? That it was a mistake?" Or did he think she was just being coy?

And when the hell did she say she loved him? Lori smoothed down Mars' hair and swiveled her legs off of the dazed giant. (Yeah. He was still pretty giant.) She thought back to the last time she'd seen Jacen as she helped push up at Mars' shoulder. Well, if he was going to pitch a fit, maybe she would allow him to throw a few punches at her. That always seemed to calm a man down.

Drunk Jacen, graham crackers, pouring out that vodka, a hole in the wall--

"And worse... I said it."

Lori sat very suddenly. She remembered now. It'd been so natural that she hadn't thought a thing of it. Did that... that really wasn't... really? She prickled. "Well I obviously didn't mean it." She wasn't sure who she was trying to convince more. "And besides, I am a very bad person. I say those things all the time to trick people." Yes. That was right. She was tricking him from the beginning... she was tricking him into... uhm...

Lori scrambled onto her knees and pushed at Mars' shoulder with sudden conviction. What were they sitting around for? Mars was going to be pissed. He had to get out of there before he got full use of his faculties again. "You'd better get out of here."

For a moment Jacen was frozen. A part of his consciousness recognized the dull moan that was coming from the other man to mean that he was returning to consciousness but for the moment he ignored the warning.

"Well I obviously didn't mean it."

The words hung in the air and it felt like a knife through the heart. Sure, he had found her in only her underclothes with big red hands and a tail feeling her up like a teenager in the back of a car, but a part of him had still hoped there was a plausible explanation. Some reason she could give that would make him overlook it. Sure, it hurt like hell to find her in this compromising position but there was stil that touch of hope in the back of his mind... only now that hope was gone. Dashed, destroyed, and decimated. Looking up at her, Jacen began to wonder if he had ever really known this woman.

As the blond got off of Jacen's attacker and then went to push the man off of him, Jacen focused his own strength on joining the effort. After a few moments of straining there was enough room for him to squirm out and then climb back up to his feet.

It was just so damn frustration! As illogical and idiotic as it might sound, Jacen actually felt like he might love this woman! How in the world had he gotten in this mess? As they stood there, just looking at each other, he couldn't help but notice some of the things that had drawn him to her in the first place. The fire in her eyes... the slight parting of her lips... the rise and fall of her chest from the physical exertion she had just particpated in.

Moving suddenly, Jacen closed on her and slipped one arm around her waist and moved his other hand up to her cheek while his lips descended with almost bruising force. For a moment, just a moment, he allow himself to be lost in the pure emotion as he gave her everything he had with just that one kiss.

"Damn you Lori Faust!" Jacen murmured forcefully a moment later when he finally pulled away. Spinning on his heel he stalked toward his damaged vehicle, praying that it was still drivable. If it wasn't then it would most likely be completely destroyed once big red woke up.

Another groan as the pair worked together to move his form of of the slighter man. His eyes dully focused on the green and brown world in his face, slowly the edges came together but as they did the pain in his brain seemed to go right along with it. where was he and why did it smell so earthy? Earth.... why was that so fitting of a word at the moment. why did he feel so venerable. He tried to twitch his tail...but there wasn't one to twitch. his lip curled back, whatever was going on, he didn't like it, He hadn't been the one face down from a fight since he was....twelve? the guards would ralley around him but the only reason they won was the Hydro pumps and reinforced titanium restraints...they had their fun but regretted it at the end of the day.

Where had the voices gone?

His eyes blinked as he saw a male pair of feet make there move an close on the pair of petite feet in front of them. the male feet about faced and left on the parting words of "damn you Lori Faust!" He licked a slightly puffy bottom lip that didn't feel quite right, nothing did. The lips curled back as he placed his palms on the ground and rose to his knees still very much disoriented. He watched the man pace toward the car and realized that he should at this moment be standing over the shreds of a broken man, he was winning, on top and the bigger dog... then what. He liked to the pretty little thing standing near him an winced remembering the sound of a gong. Part of him very badly wanted to back hand her, and her disloyalty, but another part wanted even more to pick where they had left off just moments ago, still another conflicted side wanted to give her a wedgie and ask the other guy for a ride home.

He placed one foot firmly in the dirt readying himself to run after the man, one hand gripping his baggy pants. but He looked at the blurred edges still hanging on to his vision and gave himself a moment there, kneeling somewhat like a dizzy knight.

He hesitated. Should he stay or should he go? It was a classic question never quite applied like this. Lori let go of Mars even as he was rousing and turned to look at Jacen. She didn't know what to say to the man. She didn't want him to go because if he did, she might never see him again. It was a big city after all. She'd balanced men before who have never ever seen hide or hair of one another. The city was big enough to lie to them both and keep what little comforts she had in their company. If they hadn't already known too much, that was.

She huffed to finally reclaim some semblance of a normal breathing pattern after moving Mars' weight and that seemed to spur Jacen into action. He jumped her. Well, more innocent than that, he kissed her. So suddenly and fiercely that she wanted to wrap herself around him and never ever let go. His hand at her waist, the touch at her cheek... why it was enough for any girl to love. And that made her want to hit him as surely as it made her want to love him. This was such crap!

"Damn you Lori Faust!"

She nodded dumbly and let him walk away before turning slow and stiff back to Mars. He was almost up on one knee now and Lori sniffled. Stupid. It was all stupid. Emotions were stupid. Boys were mean. And dumb. Yes. Mean and dumb.

Lori put a hand against Mars' baggy shirt. His shoulder felt warm and real compared to her hand. Hopefully Mars wasn't forever human-looking. Not that he wasn't handsome, but it was just too much of a change so suddenly. The red pigmentation of his skin has been a real rally call for the Sanctuary residents. He was a mutant through and through, but stripped of what set him apart, he was only half the mutant he used to be. If the tail was gone forever she might just cry.

"Mars, are you alright?" Even smaller, Mars on one knee wasn't too far off Lori's eye level. She looked into his brown? eyes and again missed the red. He had better be alright because she needed a cuddle buddy.

Not a word. She couldn't come up with a word to speak to the man that was walking away from her and so instead she turned her attention to the man she had chosen over him. That hurt almost as bad as having found them together in the first place. Forcing himself to look straight ahead, Jacen grabbed the door handle of his truck and then opened it. Sliding in he turned the ignition, firing up the engine without the slightest hesitation. Finally as he put the vehicle into gear he couldn't help himself. Glancing over he could only watch as Lori showed the other man the same affection that he had once thought was reserved for him alone.

Tearing his eyes away, Jacen stomped on the accelerator, desiring to screach the tires and race away. Unfortunately, with a bent axle, that wouldn't be happening. Sure there was a screach but it was mixed in with complaining metal as the wheels tried to turn in unison. With every rotation of the tired his beloved truck shook and rattled as though it were about to collapse into a heap of car parts.

"Damn you both." Jacen muttered as he pulled away, berefect of the dramatic exit had wanted, "You deserve each other."

"Mars, are you alright?"

“I am not Mars, and no I don’t think I am alright.” He blinked as the man made way to the vehicle still trying to get rid of the little birds that would circling his head if they were in a cartoon.

“Why the hell did you hit me with..” He glanced at the implement on the ground. “ A shovel!? You hit me with a shovel. I don’t know what you have going with…” He knew exactly what he had going with mars. He was mars an the other six too. This was weird. His world was weird.


It was about that time that the *….that guy, started to sputter away, in his now crappy truck, he was infinitely pleased by that. This experience would do a whole lot more than simply mess with his truck.

He blinked his eyes again to get the fog away. Oh right. It was about that time that guy sputtered away that his body rippled with muscle his flesh and eyes tuned crimson and in momnts it was him again. Mars.

“Ow!” Mars exclaimed as his tail was once again there but tangled with in his clothing. He stood and rubbed the back of his head. And then he looked really surprised at Lori. Like she woke him up with a bucket of water…like he woke her up with a bucket of water surprised. The others were in his head.

“Oh this isn’t even funny.” HE looked in the direction the truck went wanting to chase it.
He hugged Lori and patted her on the back. “Are you ok?” he glanced over in the direction of the truck again.

He concentrated toward the yard and tried to mimic the thought process that Abyss always used when he opened a void. And….nothing. this wasn’t good.

The rest of the guys just as disoriented, were arguing in his head, all those years of wondering how it felt for Abyss and he wished he didn’t know. As for Abyss well he was helpfully laughing like he just one the lottery. He was finally off of Babysitting duty. Good riddance.

“Can we sit down for a minute, I think not listening to you may have been the worst mistake I have made.” He un buttoned his pants and held them open wiggling his tail around so that it was no longer down the back of his right pat leg.

“ Do you know where he lives? This is important.” He looked. “ in case it can be reversed.”

"Damn you both." "You deserve each other."
If Mars heard the man, he would have thought that it was funny that he complimented him a sentence after cursing him.

“I am not Mars, and no I don’t think I am alright.”

He made long slow blinks and there was something in his voice that just was... well, not Mars. Lori's brow furrowed and she inspected his features more shrewdly. The tension in his upper lip, the lilt of head, the way he moved... it wasn't Mars... but it wasn't any of the others that she could pin point either. It was like he was someone else trying to imitate one of the clones, but they weren't quite sure which one. One moment the look in his eye was all Venus, the next shift of the shoulders to get her hand off was all Jupiter. She'd made it a point to know who was who and this... wasn't any of them. Not any one of them anyway. "No... I don't think you are..."

She couldn't help but curl her lips up in a twist of a smile when he discovered the shovel. "I don't know what I have either, but the shovel seemed appropriate given that you told me to side with him if I wanted to ever hope to have any of his attentions again. How very altruistic of you." She narrowed her eyes. She didn't entirely trust that piece of advice from Mars and she couldn't quite remember if it had come before or after he was ... not red.

Lori very pointedly did not turn to watch Jacen's truck pull out from the lot. He would just have to stew. And he would surely run to another woman in the meantime. She would have to work on being okay with that idea before she saw him again. Why wasn't she already okay with the idea? Another thing to chew later... and it was always that way. Later. Not now. When she was alone and could think properly about her actions.

Only after the sad whining growl of Jacen's tormented truck had started did Mars, or whoever he was, balloon out into the man he usually was. Another interesting transition that Lori watched carefully. Mars went from generally unhappy to... surprised.

“Oh this isn’t even funny.”
Lori wondered if she should know what wasn't funny, but considering that she had no idea what he was referring to, she let him get away with the statement. His attention followed the truck for a moment before snapping back to Lori. He was Mars enough to surprise her, though after a quick hug and question, his attention seemed to divide.

"I'll survive." In fact, she had some questions that Mars could perhaps help her with, if indeed this was Mars. She frowned. "What's wrong with you? I mean, yeah - sorry about the shovel," she wasn't really, "but your skull has got to be thicker than that..."

“Can we sit down for a minute, I think not listening to you may have been the worst mistake I have made.” It sounded like Mars. It moved like Mars, but there was still something wrong. Lori narrowed her eyes and watched him for a long moment before consenting. "Inside then." She motioned to the trailer door. One moment she was angry enough to throw punches and now she feeling distrustful of the friend that was supposed to be safe. The sting of one last bitter kiss sat on her lips. Lori scrubbed at those lips with the back of her head and followed Mars inside the small metal capsule. She tried to ignore the yellow lingerie too. Maybe she'd fetch it later, after Mars had gone.

“Do you know where he lives? This is important in case it can be reversed.”

"Sit. Start at the beginning and maybe I'll take you to where he lives." Blindfolded or something. Shit this was getting far too complicated.

There were three rooms to the trailer. A small kitchenette, a small living room (half of which only existed because the trailer had it's extension out), and a bed room with a bathroom. Everything was scrubbed spotless and the whole trailer smelled faintly of cleaning products and linoleum. Lori went to the bathroom for a bit of gauze, antibacterial spray, and rubber gloves before hopping up to take a seat on the counter next to the chair. There was only one chair and it was repositioned at the end of the living room since she had thrown the TV out into the yard. The TV hadn't worked well even before she had moved in... and well, "moved in" was a rather loose term anyway considering there was hardly anything that spoke of who currently resided. There were maybe two sets of her clothing. The rest were remnants of her dad. The picture frames were all laying face down.

Lori leaned over Mars, rubber gloves in place, and dabbed at the coagulating blood. Now that his scalp was red it was a bit harder to tell what was what. Ah well, at least he was fine... ish.

"No... I don't think you are..."

"I don't know what I have either, but the shovel seemed appropriate given that you told me to side with him if I wanted to ever hope to have any of his attentions again. How very altruistic of you."

“I told you to hit me?” Sarcasm to stunned realization in a second flat. “I might as well have told you to hit me.” It was almost like he didn’t remember what he had done that day until he thought about it, it was just that about ten minutes ago he was doing seven different things in seven different places. And only two of them include this woman…and even one of those was more to the woman’s room.

His calf brown eyes looked at her confused again for a second. before the red kicked in.


~~"I'll survive"What's wrong with you? I mean, yeah - sorry about the shovel," "but your skull has got to be thicker than that..."

“ My hair is normally thicker then that, much less my skull.” Was mars off the cuff response, he was still very disoriented with the whole situation, he was pretty sure he could remember the other guys more recent thoughts…and now they were in his head.

~~"Inside then."


~~"Sit. Start at the beginning and maybe I'll take you to where he lives."

“ A minute ago, I wasn’t me…I wasn’t there at all….it was all of us, none of us. It wasn’t even, Abyss.” He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts as best he could and then turned the volume up for her as she was out of the room.

“SO, any way, The guys say to call him earth.” Yes they said so in his head. Abyss was still just laughing at him, it was helpful. “so anyway, We were human, a single human there for a moment, and now I am the one with them in my head. I think I have inherited the void….the control and the responsibility….my brothers are now in my head and I have to figure out, how to open the void and kick them out. and…”

He took a breath. “I think he is a schmuck, I would say sorry , but I won’t respect someone who can t appreciate you. But I need him to reverse this.”

“I want to make, Jacen give it back to Abyss, it should only be a matter of getting abyss close to him…if it is only proximity, if it his choice well, I will need to talk him into it.” or torture as much as necessary. “but that also means I have to figure out how to open the void…”

He would have slumped back if his head wasn’t being cleaned as the mutation took over the red blood was beginning to be replaced by a darker more purple blood, it almost looked like ink, as the purple pushed the red out of the way the originally abrasion would be easy to identify, if it wasn’t for all that black hair.

“ oh and Pluto put a gallon of rotten milk in a tray, in the duct of your room at the sanctuary. I’ll take care of it for you.”

Mars spewed some scattered thoughts before getting some sort of message across. Lori clucked her tongue at him a few times when he tried to turn and face her. She was having a grand time playing doctor in the back and he was just going to have to sit still and endure the sting as she disinfected things. Hopefully he wouldn't need a tetanus shot.

So from Lori's understanding, Abyss was no longer the main controller of this... mutation situation. Earth had come and gone with Jacen, but now Mars was the head honcho and didn't like the responsibility. She took a careful moment to process exactly what that might mean. "so... Pluto is in there as well as the others. Even Abyss?" Interesting. Lori pulled the gauze away from Aby--Mars' skull and saw it had a light stippling of purple. Ah, so that explained why his tongue was purple.

“I think he is a schmuck, I would say sorry , but I won’t respect someone who can't appreciate you. But I need him to reverse this.”

Lori was suddenly reminded of the fortune sitting in her jeans pocket. She'd ordered chinese and those always came with tasty cookies, lotto numbers, and a bit of philosophy. "Love is like war; easy to begin but hard to stop." She flushed slightly because she hadn't meant to admit to anything. It wasn't really an admission anyway, it was a fortune cookie. "And if this happened because you went into Jacen's uh--area of effect, then Abyss would need to go next time so then he will be the main squeeze again. Good luck keeping certain others away..." Oh, that would be bad if Pluto got a hold of the reigns, but at least Mars would be there to see the horror he would commit.... right? Wasn't that how it worked? He did know about that blasted milk...

"Bleeding is down to a minimum." She snapped the latex gloves off one by one before tossing the bloody bits into the trash and slipping into Mars' lap. Her hands were still greasy from the car work and her freckles stood out on her face from the pallor of her skin. Normally they blended in a bit better, but after getting angry (or any other other strong emotion) they were as obvious as when she was a kid. "You'll figure it out." Lori pat Mars on the cheek absently as she thought... or rather, tried not to think about relationships.

"All those guys in there... they can tell what's going on out here?" A glint of mischief shined out from her eyes. "I mean, until you figure out how to open the void, that's like a captive audience, right?" Oh the things she could say and do...