Skye Prower

"I'm sure we can set the reactors to overload or something," said Ziona.

"I'm not sure there's anything left of me," Skye replied quietly, making no attempt to resist. ------------ "That's the portals shut, and I've powered down the whole system. Best we blow the place and wipe the data," said Ziona as she sat down on the floor, resting her back and head against the computer case.

Anna nodded. "I'm sorry. Please, be quick. Take care of them," she begged.

"What have I done?" whispered Skye quietly as he went limp.

"I-I didn't... it wasn't...." Skye's voice failed him.

"What... what do you mean?" asked Skye.

Ziona came back through the portal, and slowly made he way to the portal controls. She held onto the console for support. "My heads spinning worse than on my second day on the job," she muttered.

"What?" Anna exclaimed. She shook her head. "This isn't fair. Everything was going so well." ---------- Ziona had held her breath for almost a minute, expecting some kind of backlash, but nothing happened except for the light disappearing. "Shall we head back then? Looks like this problem's been dealt with."

"Yeah, it's safe... but.... Melody... what happened?" asked Anna

(ooc: Aww, you've hurt my feelings!) "M-melody will be fine," Skye replied. "S-she always is."

Melody gave a little squeal of pain when picked up. Anna glanced over and saw Dylan."Dylan! Red's hurt. Can you get her somewhere safe?" she called over, not seeing the injured Melody.

"Promise Hope?" asked Melody desperately. ------------- "We're not dead, that's a good start," said Ziona looking around. "I think the lights are dying down."

"It's.... It's gotta be... I have to be able to run..." said Melody, tears beginning to form. ------------ "Okay, heads, the top wire, tails, the lower one," said Ziona tossing the coin. She caught it as it came down and looked at the result. "It's tails, so cut the one for heads!"

"This is just one of those crazy dreams again, isn't it?" Melody asked pleadingly to Hope. --------- "Uh, I've got a coin to toss here," said Ziona.

"N-no..." Melody replied, her voice shaking. ---------- "Wait, if this thing makes us imagine things, then how do we know the wires aren't...?"

'Maybe she just has a straw and feeds off Shadow then,' thought Melody. Then her thoughts went a little grim. "Uh, Hope. I.. uh.. can't move my legs..." ------------ "What kinda clues are you looking for. It would save time if we both tried to back track the wires. Of course," Ziona said, a wicked smile appearing on her face, "we could use this station to... Gah, no. I think this thing's messing with my head."

'Could be. Or maybe just really good sunblock. It would explain why she's so white. Ever seen her handing around the medi-bay where the blood-packs are stored?' thought Melody, trying slowly to sit up. ------------- "It's a shame you don't have that hammer summoning trick some of your alts do," said Ziona. "Think you can disable it?"

"No. That just makes things worse," said Skye, his words becoming firmer. ---------- 'You mean she's not already?' joked Melody. ---------- "It might work, or it might blow every nearby zone up. But maybe a little controlled demolition inside might work. See if you can find a hatch." Ziona swayed slighly and held her head. "These lights are making me dizzy."

'Yeah, I wouldn't actually want to look that desiccated. Hmm, vampire?' suggested Melody. ----------- Ziona gulped. "Right. Yeah sure..." Shaking her head, she jumped through the portal, landing on the back of the Syphon Station. Almost immediately the lights stated dancing over her. "Oh, this isn't pleasant," she shivered. "I really hope this station was built with a nice big red 'off' switch."

"But how can I-I-I sit back and do nothing?" Skye asked. ----------- 'Aww, that's no fun!' thought Melody. 'I'll pass on the zombie. Maybe a lich....' ----------- "Opening now," said Ziona as the gateway opened, lights spilling out. "Huh boy. If this stuff messes with your mind it might be a bit more tricky than I thought..."

"That's what I-I-I thought before. It didn't work. The cycle keeps going," replied Skye ------------ "And it's not like you can outrun me either," said Melody. 'Actually, come to think of it, how would being a zombie affect telepathy?' she thought. ----------- "By the looks of things it's located in a pocket dimension. I can still open a portal to it if needed," said Ziona.

"Hmm, you know, the thought of brains does seem rather tasty," joked Melody. ---------- "Like the swirling energy, manic screaming, and attacking us all weren't already clues to that," muttered Ziona. The she shook her head. "Sorry, you went after Miles. You didn't see that." Ziona turned back to the screen. "We need to destroy that station."

"I-I-I'm not f-f-free. H-h-he keeps. Coming. BACK!" ------------ "Yay. I'm a joke cracking ghost then," said Melody. She giggled, which caused her to wince in pain again. ------------ "It's an device designed to suck all energy from a Zone and store it. But... I don't think this one's been fully activated. I think it's only being drawing in energy slowly. And Skye opened a portal to it... Which means..."

"This... This isn't what I-I wanted. I-I-I just wanted to stop h-him. H-he keeps hurting m-me. H-he wrecked m-my childhood. H-he hurt M-melody. H-he destroyed M-mother. H-he keeps attacking A-anna. H-he tricking m-me into thinking h-he was a f-friend. And h-he ALWAYS BEATS ME! I CAN NEVER STOP HIM!" Skye screamed, almost in pain. ------------- "I'm not so certain of that," said Melody, trying to smile. ------------- "Lets have a look. It does appear as if another portal was opened. Let's see if I can get this visual system to work. Ah, there we go... Oh no," Ziona breathed as she looked at the screen. "It's another Syphon Station."

"It was h-his fault. He made m-m-me suffer. He made M-melody suffer. And even if w-we shouldn't e-exist, I-I'll make s-sure no other c-child has to s-suffer at h-his hands," Skye continued, though his resolve seemed to be weakening. ------- "Hope? Is that you?" Melody moaned. "Is this where you tell me it's 'not that bad'?" ------- Anna was trying to patch up Red's wounds, using strips of clothing as bandages. ------ Ziona and Glen arrived back in the lab. "This is not a pretty sight. I'm gonna check the computer systems."