The Enemy of My Enemy is a Friend

[ziggyplayedguitar]

It had been a few days since the encounter with Lotor and the witch. Aletayria and Ziggy were still mostly laid up from wounds and exhaustion. It left Tom livid and he insisted the entire family be in one place. Ziggy's townhouse was the larger dwelling, so that is where the family and all eighteen of their cats have been residing for the past few days. There were arrangements to be made and knowledge to be shared and they all waited.

Tom could barely leave Aletayria's side. Her prior pregnancies had been so difficult that the human stressed now. The witch dared to attack her like this and the human would not have it. He was hovering around where she rested on the couch with a mind firmly fixed on a thousand different ways he could end the witch's life for this offense. He paced and would have been chain smoking if the Antheans weren't in the vicinity.

Ziggy lay on the opposite end of the L-shaped couch from his mother. He was worse off than she was, broken ribs and utterly exhausted the rockstar could barely stay awake for any length of time. This was the kind of exhaustion even the cocaine and caffeine couldn't interrupt. However, it was nearly time for people to show up so he made the effort to remain conscious for a time. Hiroki was somewhere in the townhouse. Ziggy could feel his presence and imagined he was making meal number 20 in his incessant protest that Ziggy needed to eat more.

Tommy though was unscathed and sitting in a soft chair halfway between the living room and the front door. Several of the cats sat in the chair with him purring contently though, like their master, they also watched the door with indifferent interest. Tommy was going to be the gatekeeper and make sure nothing unwanted entered the house. Everyone stepping through the door was going to get scanned for the darkness and the witch. If they wanted to refuse they could deal with the surly, old Anthean that didn't care what they said. He would be unswayed.

This is how the family waited; anxious, exhausted, and despite their inherent pacifism... pissed off.

[Feel free to handwave Tommy scanning your character. However, if they would refuse write it in and Tommy will have some words for them. Tommy iamjustvisiting, Aletayria sordiddetails, Tom hellomajortom, and Ziggy ziggyplayedguitar are all present. If your character is approaching any of them specifically feel free to write that into a tag.]

Comments

[making_sacrifices]

"I thought I felt Honerva in the Nexus," Allura says, after coming here, "but I hoped it was only simply a residue, not her. Why'd she come here? Why here? There are so many other realities where Lotor yet lives, too."

The Princess sighs.

Hiroki Shirogane had vouched for Allura and explained that in Hiroki's world, Allura is the only person alive who can defeat Honerva.

And Allura feels powerful, indeed, now, to anyone who can feel that. Like some raw universal energy. And not dark. Mostly not, at least.

Hiroki's now busy tending to Ziggy.

[onward_and_upward]

Astro was sitting off to the side in a chair, legs dangling over the side as he looked down at his hands in his lap. After speaking with Tom and spending some time with Aletayria on the couch he felt a bit better - but he still felt quite a bit out of his element with this situation. He wasn't a fighter, even with his advanced robot abilities and weapons systems. But he so desperately wanted to help and protect his new Nexus family.

The teenager became aware of movement next to his chair and looked up, spotting a white haired woman with pointed ears and facial markings. He had seen her when he had first come into Ziggy's townhouse - but like many people there, he didn't know her. She did seem to be one of the ones in charge though.

"Hello." He greeted, looking up at her curiously.

[ginger_firebird]

Ben's the only real reason Mantis knew to arrive, but he knew there were several people likely living in the house. He's got his usual mask on, leaving him free to keep his faculties together while organizing Yaga and a bundle of jams to bring over. The catwing is spry and much mor confident in taking brief flights as they walk, chasing leaves or simply enjoying the thrill of having an elevated point of view to work from. By the time they are up to the home of the one known as Ziggy Stardust, Yaga is pulling hard at his harness and meowing up at the front door.

Like a corvidae themed Mary Poppins, Mantis knocks at the door to wait and be let in. He bends over slightly to pet Yaga, who is clawing at the door and continuing his less polite manner of informing the residents that he has arrived and wishes to meet the the other cats.

[sordiddetails]

When the knock comes to the door Tommy is up refilling his drink. Aletayria, much to her husband's protest goes to answer the door. The cats are all spiraling around her feet as she opens the door. A rush of calm spills out the door as her presence becomes visible.

She's even taller and more slender than Tommy with red hair cascading down to her waist. Her yellow slit pupiled eyes focus on the person outside, clear eyelids sliding over her eyes as she blinks. She has some oddities; no eyebrows, no external ears, and oddly long limbs and fingers even compared to Tommy. For a moment no words are there, just a gaze and a sudden silence as the cats and catwings stop to stare at Mantis as well. Her mind is elsewhere, asking her family if this person is known. The thought comes back from Tommy that he is a friend.

Her eyes soften and focus on Mantis again. "I must check you for influence before you can come in. It's necessary now even if you are trusted."

[somekindofspaceuncle]

Hiroki comes to greet him after Mantis's conversation with Aletayria.

"Hey. I just wanted to say - thank you, Mantis."

By the way, Hiroki has two arms now. His right arm is scarred in plenty of places.

[making_sacrifices]

"Oh, you must be the Mantis!"

Allura claps.

"It's an honour to meet you. I'm Princess Allura of Altea. And this is my friend, Chuchulu, who right now says you look weird," she says, pointing at a mouse currently in her pocket. The mouse has a telepathic bond with the princess and is sentient. "Oh, my. Excuse Chuchulu's manners."

[chiaro_oscuro]

Ben arrives not long in turn, coming after Mantis.

He introduces himself quietly, waiting and watching, though there's clearly some internal tension going on. Unlike the Antheans, he's no pacifist, and this is his alternative to going after Honerva himself. There's no ay that would end well, so even though he's not used to working as part of a team he's going through with it.

He gives Mantis a quick nod - Mantis is the person here that he knows best. He's terse, clearly angry but working to restrain himself.

[hellomajortom]

Tom doesn't need to be a telepath to see the anger in the young man that's just arrived. Tom himself is fighting down a good bit of rage over the situation. However, as the only normal, unpowered human, he is at a loss of how to manage.

Ben can probably feel it rolling off o him when he approaches because it is so thinly veiled. However, Tom has decorum and can manage himself in extraordinary situations when he must.

"I don't think we've met." Tom offers his hand. "Major Tom Jones. I'm Ziggy's father."

He figures Ziggy is the most gregarious of everyone here so is likely to know anyone who is showing up. Depending on how sensitive Ben is, he may be able to sense that Tom is human but there's something odd in his presence that is not human.

[ginger_firebird]

"Try to breathe. I can't explain it completely, but the people who live here are stronger than me. There's something about this house, and I think it has to do with how the different psychics here use their powers."

Mantis has long allowed Yaga off-leash to have a go at playing nice with the other cats. He wrings the leash and harness in his hands and keeps his gaze around the room.

[making_sacrifices]

"Welcome. Thank you for coming all this way. I'm Princess Allura of Altea. It's nice to meet you, Mister...?"

[somekindofspaceuncle]

"Hello," Hiroki says, sometime later. "Are you Ben? Your girlfriend's mentioned you."

"My name's Hiroki Shirogane. Nice to meet you."

He offers his hand for a handshake. It's pale and scarred in many places.

[coffee_elf]

Rondo is entirely blindsided by all of this. He has a few friends in the Nexus by this point, and Ziggy is certainly one of them, but he's been oblivious to any conflicts. Usually being as neutral and innocent as possible stands him in good stead, but in this case he feels like he's done something wrong by having missed something awful happening to his friend.

His studio isn't far, and after some hemming and hawwing he opts to leave his snakeling familiars home in their shared terrarium, but he's carrying a shoulder bag with fruit in it as a gift, and there's a potted plant in his hands. It's an old hybrid species, half Earthly, half Arraka'aran, and it looks a bit like a kalanchoe, but the leaves are unusual, violet and slate blue shading to gold at the tips, and the flowers, when they bloom, will be trailing delicate strands of white with black centers.

He's not prepared for Tommy, at all, and if the Anthean tries to scan him without explaining why first, he'll run up against mental shielding that's more or less a brick wall. For as young as he is, and as small and soft as he looks, Rondo has a lot of inherent talent. He studies the gatekeeper uncertainly. His resemblance to Ziggy does not go unnoticed, and the last thing he wants is to start an argument with any of his friend's family members, but he can't help but be nervous.

"Um," he asks softly, "What are you doing?"

[iamjustvisiting]

There are some distinct differences between Tommy and Ziggy, most importantly the presence. Where Ziggy's is loud and bright, Tommy is emotionless with an indifferent expression.

He doesn't scan people without asking because, in theory, everyone showing up is a friend of his extended family. However, from the surface he can clearly get the confusion and an image of who he's thinking about seeing. Though Tommy isn't the best with acting on human-like politeness he does remember Mary Lou taking flowers to friends.

"There are problems." Tommy's words are flat and without emotion. "I need to make sure you aren't possessed before you can come in."

There's nothing but calm placidness in his presence like a blank slate in a way though there is a faint anxiety around the edges.

[chiaro_oscuro]

"There's a witch named Honerva here in the Nexus. She's the one who made Ziggy sick - she can take control of him, and that's what we're trying to stop. Since her influence can penetrate this place, Honerva must be extremely powerful. So we have to be careful in how we combat her."

Ben's hazel eyes flicker in the elf's direction. Like Rondo, he generally tries to stay out of large-scale conflicts in the Nexus, partly because he doesn't trust his own judgement and worries that his temper might make tense situations worse. But this time he feels he has to step in. It's the right thing to do, and something about what Honerva has done to Hiroki feels nastily familiar.

"Rondo. It's Ben - good to see you again, but it's a pity it's not under better circumstances. Since Honerva can puppeteer people and make them do what she wants, using them as her spies, Ziggy and his family have to make sure nobody here is under her influence. It's awkward, but necessary. We don't want her listening in."

[making_sacrifices]

Allura catches him after his talk with Tommy and his talk with Ziggy.

"Thank you for making it here. I'm Princess Allura, of Altea, it's an honour to meet you."

Looking at him, she wonders for a moment if he's half-Altean half something else, like Lotor.

[jedied]

Rey doesn't know much of what's going on, but she'd promised Ben her assistance and moral support as necessary. She doesn't know anyone here but Ben and Mantis, but there's a sorcerer hurting people and that's plenty of information for her. Once she realizes there's someone still injured she'll offer Force healing, but for now she's just looking for Ben so he can explain what's going on and introduce her to the others.

[chiaro_oscuro]

"Oh! Rey." Ben greets Rey with a wave to draw her attention. "Glad to see you here, even if it's not under the besi circumstances. Unfortunately, I don't know too much about what's going on yet, but I can tell you a little. Honerva, the witch I mentioned, is a powerful telepath. She can control people through the Nexus itself - without them knowing about it. We're deciding what we can do to stop her from harassing Hiroki, Ziggy's family, and the other people here."

He offers her a chair beside him. "Ziggy Stardust is the injured man. He and his family own this house: Major Tom Jones, Aletayria, and Tommy. Those are Rondo and Mantis. Allura is an enemy of Honerva from their home universe."

[ziggyplayedguitar]

Tommy did check in with her when she arrived and though aloof he's polite enough. When she asks about helping through healing he directs her to Ziggy who is still on the couch. He's mostly exhausted.

He does smile when he sees her. Like the man who greeted her, Ziggy is tall, thin, bright read hair and blue eyes. His presence though subdued from over exertion is wild, chaotic, and highly emotional. She may even pick up on the fact that he is a telepath, empath and half human/half alien.

His eyes open because he can feel her approach. The smile is slightly silly looking from the exhaustion and a significant amount of gin for killing his pain. "Who sent the prettiest girl here to sit with me?"

He tries to scoot on the couch to give her space but winces. He has a few broken and fractured ribs.

[somekindofspaceuncle]

Hiroki hasn't greeted new people yet, he feels he should, but...

He just wasn't sure if he wants to see any strangers right now.

He's sitting at Ziggy's bedside right now and looks up at the young woman when she comes close. She's not an enemy, he knows, because Ziggy'd know if she was.

Still, never hurts to watch her carefully just in case.

He giggles when Ziggy flirts with her. It's true that she is pretty.

Then the young man finally addresses her.

"Hello. I don't think we've met. My name's Hiroki Shirogane."

He heard her offer healing.

"Could you please help Ziggy? He's got broken ribs."

[skyti]

Atreus had spent all morning selecting smooth flat stones by a stream on the outskirts of the Wilds. And then drawing a special mystical rune on them. He's not sure what's going on but Ben sounded pretty serious.

He hefts the sack of stones, now glowing with green life energy and knocks on the door he was told to come to.

"Umm... Hi! Ben asked me to bring these by for him. They're Healing Runes."

[iamjustvisiting]

Tommy comes to the door. He's tall and thin and stares down at the boy. It is very odd that there are so many children here, but then, he reasons, Ziggy is a child still. If these are his friends then it makes sense. The cats that came to the door with him quietly sit and stare up at Atreus.

After a moment of silence. "Ben is here but I can't let you in until I make sure you aren't possessed."

His words are matter of fact and without emotion. Newton is exceedingly old and by this time in his life done with everything on a grand scale. However, this boy leaves a twinge of pain in his expression that he can't hide. It was only days ago he found out his own children, including a son, had died in his absence.

[chiaro_oscuro]

"Atreus. I'm glad you could make it. Sorry I had to call you on such short notice, but I think your runes could help us."

Ben gestures for Atreus to join him. He has healing abilities of his own, and feels guilty for not offering to heal Ziggy, but the last time he used them on another human being he died. So he's a little cautious about them until he has a better handle on the ability.

"You're right, we're going to do something dangerous. A different kind of enemy than draugrs and trolls. Smarter. Able to hide."

[skeksisheretic]

"We came...to see...Ziggy. Heard he...was sick."

The Heretic and the Wanderer arrive late, the Skeksis leading the way and the urRu trailing behind. skekGra doesn't know the circumstance, but he knows that Ziggy's sick and came to offer his condolences. urGoh's loyally tagging along as always, though both of them are uncharacteristically serious when they arrive on seeing how serious everyone else looks. There's something going on here, and skekGra worries.

"I have a few questions," says the old Skeksis. "Who are you, and what's going on? I heard that Ziggy's sick, and we brought a few herbs that might help him feel a bit better. Though we don't know what made him ill, they're from our planet. We can vouch for how they work."

[iamjustvisiting]

Tommy opens the door to... what the hell is this thing. It is enough t cause the usually stoic Anthean to raise a brow at the sight. He wonders if they will fit through this door. There was always the back patio and the sliding doors.

"Who are you?" Tommy counters without a pause. He doesn't know what they are. With the current situation he's suspicious. Though once he gets an answer he offers. "Thomas Newton. Ziggy is my nephew."

Then he pauses looking past the one in the doorway to the one still approaching. They are definitely going to need the sliding doors.

"I will need to test the herbs for compatability with our species." The concern in the dinosaur? was enough to let him speak more. "The situation is complicated. I need to ask something of you before I say more."

[spacetaser]

It had been a while since Katiri had been in the Nexus; busy with the goings on at the Tower back home and the constant fight against the Darkness. She still remained in contact with her friends via the PINpoint at least - sending messages when she could. Today though, she arrived having been sent by Saint-14. It appeared the Titan had gotten a message from Ben Solo asking for his assistance with a situation. Since his duties tied him to the Tower and the Trials of Osiris, he confided in Katiri and asked if she wished to go in his stead. She of course happily volunteered.

Through messages with Ben on the PINpoint, she got the address where the gathering was taking place and she messaged him to tell him that she was on the way. Now, after being inspected by a rather serious red-headed man at the door, she stood at the edge of the room, noting the people gathered and the clear tension in the room.

She was fully armored and armed as usual, resplendent in her blue, white and gold Solstice Robes. The armor shimmered and glowed some in places almost as if her Light couldn't be contained. Luce had appeared to hover over her shoulder, wearing his new Ghost Shell, giving him the appearance of wearing a metallic adventurous looking fedora - shaded to be the same shiny blue as Katiri's armor. Though she didn't have weapons in her hands, she had her sword sheathed on her back and her favored SMG 'Risk Runner'. If she needed anything else, Luce could easily transmat it to her.

Rather than cause any attention to herself, the Warlock merely listened to the murmuring chatter as her bright glowing eyes looked over the room as she stood by the wall. She didn't have a clear idea what was going on at the moment, but she was sure it would be explained in due time. She was here as a Guardian and one that had been asked for help.

[chiaro_oscuro]

It's part of the nature of the Nexus that there isn't really any established leadership or chain of command, even in a dangerous situation. There's leaders, but most of them are concerned more with their immediate circle than the Nexus as a whole. The Guardians are an exception. Ben doesn't know Blaze or her fireteam, and he figures they'd be occupied with other duties, so he turned to Saint for help instead.

It was a long shot, seeing as Saint had problems in his own world to deal with. Any world where humanity's fighting off four hostile alien species at once is bound to be complicated. But he's decided that Honerva and her behavior is an active threat to the Nexus's population, especially given that she could possess other people if she failed to recapture Hiroki.

But Saint did sens someone, even if he couldn't come himself. Ben doesn't know Katiri very well, but if she's one of Saint's confidants and she was entrusted her with this job he's more than willing to partner with him. This will probably be unfamiliar territory for most people involved, but from what he knows of Guardians they deal with their share of bizarre, reality-threatening dangers.

"Katiri. You came. I don't know as much as the Antheans and Hiroki do, but I can fill you in on the basics. It's complicated, but there's an active threat present in the Nexus. Very powerful. It might not be your area of expertise, but any fighters are welcome." He manages a small smile when he sees Luce's hat, despite the seriousness of the situation. It looks like the fedora Marion gave him some time ago. "Sorry I had to call on such short notice, but I figured a representative from the Guardians could help."

[onward_and_upward]

Astro hadn't been in the Nexus for several weeks; having been stuck at home in Metro City. There had been things to take care of and meetings with the City Council, plus his Father had to make adjustments to the synchronometer device implanted within him so that it could track and send his signal back to the Ministry of Science while in the Nexus. Even with that adjustment, things were tense between the robot and his Father as Astro wished to return to the multi-dimensional space and Tenma sought to keep him home.

The restless teenager had spent his time with friends when they weren't in school and also helping around the still recovering city; chafing at the fact that his PINpoint had been confiscated and being examined back at the Ministry to make sure it wasn't a danger. All he could do was hope that his friends back in the Nexus wouldn't worry too much about him due to his disappearance.

Now, after Tenma finally relented and gave him back his PINpoint, Astro was rocketing again through the skies of the Nexus. He wore his usual zip up hoodie over a t-shirt and loose trousers that comfortably fit over the red metal plating on his lower legs. Metro City would always be his home, and he'd never leave home for good. But here in the Nexus, he felt 'normal', and wasn't treated like he was a loaded gun. He would remain in contact with Tenma and Elefun and his friends of course and would go home in a heartbeat if needed, but for now he would enjoy being back in a place where he could be 'normal'. Well, as normal as a robot boy flying with jet propulsion in his legs.

The first place he arrived at was Tom and Aletayria's. Though something had immediately felt amiss. No one was home, not even the cats. Astro even tried calling Tom's PINpoint, but there wasn't an answer. A bit concerned at this strange turn of events, Astro decided to try Ziggy's place to see if he was home. Taking off once again, he streaked off towards the main population center of the Nexus. He wasn't nearly as loud as a fighter jet, but his rocket propelled flight would be audible as he came down for a landing in front of Ziggy's townhouse.

Knocking on the door, he checked his PINpoint to see if Tom had called or sent a message. This was really concerning! If Ziggy wasn't home he figured he'd try contacting him too.

[iamjustvisiting]

Tom had turned down his PINpoint since they had come to take care of Ziggy and with Aletayria feeling under the weather. He hadn't thought to turn it up when all the people came in and started talking.

It is Tommy that opens the door to stare blankly at the boy outside. Slowly his brows go up as his eyes adjust to the brightness, or rather it is easier because he's partially blind. Much of the far EM field that radiated off of Astro was now beyond his sight.

"Who are you?" Tommy asks. His presence is calm like Aletayria's but it is almost completely devoid of emotion both visibly and in the empathy.

However, he does have some telltale signs, at least to a robot with such good hearing, that he is Anthean. The heartbeat is radiating from the mid-back with the distinctively slower pulse and the intakes of breath significantly longer than a human because of the larger lungs, never mind the uncanny red-orange of his hair.