Skye Prower

Skye was too lost in his own thoughts to notice the twitch. He began pacing the lab. "My n-notebook i-is back i-in Haven s-so I can't c-check my s-spells right n-now. B-but that d-doesn't make sense. I-if I can't d-do magic n-now a-after the t-time change, I wouldn't r-remember ever being able to d-do so. Unless t-the timechange.... O-oh no. Hope, am I-I stammering? Hope?"

"Well i-it's l-like.... I can t-tap into m-magic fine, b-but it's almost l-like I'm not casting t-the spells properly. A-as if i'm using the w-wrong words o-or gestures." Skye sat back in his chair and pondered. "My m-memory of h-how my s-spells work c-could have b-been w-warped by my p-past changing."

"Hmmmm, e-either yes or n-no. The s-signal's coming through s-stronger, but there d-doesn't appear to b-be any magic r-readings or similar o-out there. Which m-means the p-problem is e-either me, o-or the machine i-isn't working."

"U-unless y-your the saboteur we s-should be fine," Skye joked. He flipped a switch and the machine began humming quietly. "Hmm, I'm n-not getting a-any reading. C-could you c-check the f-focusing array and m-make s-sure it's aligned?"

(ooc: we won't introduce Anti-Hope yet. That'll happen while Miles arrives to retrieve Skye! And you really shouldn't use your characters to talk about Locke like that. It comes across as WAY to self-congratulatory.) "C-cool. Okay, let's just t-tune it i-in, and s-see if w-we can find a-anything." ---------------------- "Dad's a Guardian, maybe he'll know how to let Tikal out? Anyway, I smell breakfast and I'm starving. Shall we hunt for something to eat."

"S-sorry I d-didn't mean... Never m-mind. At l-least w-we're a-almost done w-with the s-scanner." -------------------- "Heh, adorable face? I think Skye would panic if he got too much affection!" (ooc: Hmm, future anti-Hope teaming up with future Miles to track down Skye? Ouch. That was painful to read!)

"No n-need to a-apologise. I j-just don't t-think you'd l-like the answers."

The screwdriver slipped out of Skye's hands. He stooped to pick it up. "L-let's not g-go there."

"Hmm, m-maybe." Skye pondered as he helped put the machine together. "Maybe t-that's why on M-Moebius all the s-smart people t-try to r-rule the w-world; simple boredom. It's a-a surprisingly p-peaceful w-world given h-how e-everyone is a b-backstabbing jerk!" --------------------------- Melody was still giggling "I think she was the first girl he met who was nice to him, and who wasn't his sister or a servant." (ooc; hehe, glad you find it amusing, I certainly did!)

"B-brilliant!" Skye started hurrying round the lab, collecting the required components. "Another d-day, a-another rush t-to build a m-machine t-to prevent d-disaster," Skye moaned. ------------------------ Melody giggled. "Okay then. Though Skye doesn't know I know, as he didn't know I was in his head at the time. But there's apparently a girl trapped in the Master Emerald?" (ooc: Thank you Locke for giving me this idea waaaaaaaaayyyyyy back at the party scene."

"Okay Hope. I-it's a little rough b-but we d-don't have t-time to m-make a proper s-set of p-plans. T-think w-we can build t-this quickly?" Skye asked as he pushed the scribbled drawing towards her. ---------------------------- "Skye's usually very clingy with me, I'm surprised he'd do anything without telling me. But then, he has been on his own for a long time. But Hope's not his girlfriend. He's a crush on..." Melody paused and clamped her hands over her mouth. "Forget I said anything. He'd kill me!" came out muffled.

"Don't worry, they'll be plenty more opportunities through the day." Melody stomach gave a small growl. "Uh, heh. I can smell breakfast, and I think my tummy's getting impatient. How...." Melody stopped speaking as a look of worry crossed her face. "Wait... Skye usually wakes me up before now. I hope nothing's happened to him."

"I k-know. But at l-least the scanner will e-eliminate one option." Skye grabbed a sheet of paper and began scribbling a rough outline.

"Well, t-that's one o-option. W-we find that e-energy spike b-by rigging u-up a scanner and t-then find s-some way t-to shut it d-down or d-disenchant it. T-the other is t-that I might h-have been c-cursed, w-which is why m-my magic i-isn't working. T-trouble is, I'd need another m-magic user t-to find out!"

"T-thanks," Skye replied, and on the way explained his idea. "T-the only way t-to properly b-block magic is to u-use powerful m-magic yourself. Y-you could use C-chaos, Anarchy or similar e-energies as well, but y-you need a l-lot or a powerful m-mage could find a -way round t-the b-block. Though, I-I'm just an a-amateur. B-but either way, if t-there is a m-magic b-blocking field, that means t-they'll be a s-strong concentration o-of energy n-nearby, so...." ----------------------------------- Melody grinned then hugged Red. "Deal!" (ooc: I'd say go for it. Meant to say so last time, sorry.)

"Hope, c-can I b-borrow your l-lab? I might b-be able to rig u-up some kind of s-scanner for d-detecting magic. And i-if that n-needs GUN approval, t-they can h-ave it when I-I'm done." ----------------------------- "Well, yeah, Mother would give me a hug from time to time. Though, that was more when I was younger and had done well in training."

"I-I see w-what I can d-do. Hmmm, a w-way to detect a-a magical b-b;ock without b-being able t-to u-use magic..." ------------------------------ Melody to Red by the hand. "No Mom. You didn't over-react. I did. It was just something that'd never happened to me before."

Skye was back of the room, trying to cast a spell. "I d-don't get it. I can f-feel the magic t-there, I j-just c-can't shape it. L-like I'm casting t-the spell w-wrong or something." He looked up. "Is t-there anything I can do t-to help?" ------------------- "No, you didn't scare me. It was just... unexpected, that's all."

"Well, I-I don't know i-if they exist e-either, but t-they may do. But if t-that's not the c-case, I wonder w-what went w-wrong?" ------------------- "I, uh, sorry Mom. Yeah, I slept well. Just... I thought someone was trying to grab me."

"If I w-were y-you Hope, I'd k-keep a forcef-field in t-there from n-now on. Huh? The b-bomb. It w-was one o-of the m-most advanced detonators I-I've ever s-seen. I d-doubt it was a-actually meant f-for a normal bomb. And it h-had a GUN l-logo on it. Erm, one o-other thing, b-but it might not b-be linked. My m-magic wasn't working properly. Does G-GUN have a m-magic distorting f-field or s-something?" ------------------ Melody's nose twitched slightly as she caught the sent of breakfast. Eyes still shut, she tried to rise from the bed, but something held here down. Very, very slowly, Melody's eyes opened and the world around he slowly came into focus. She gave a start as she saw what was weighing her down. An arm. She let out a little shriek. "What the..... MOM?" ------------------------------ By the sound of thing, the arguments outside had ceased. Ziona headed back into the main room, and smiled when it appeared she was alone. Grabbing a book and a towel, she started heading for the beach to catch some rays.

"I-I'm f-fine thanks Auntie Rouge, a-and s-so is Shadow. H-he's still inside. We u-used y-your forcefield Hope to c-contain the e-explosion." (ooc: actually it's not my story. But I'll have a ponder to what the girls are up to and put it in my next post.)

"I'm n-not an i-intruder. I c-came with Shadow a-and Rouge. T-they'll vouch f-for me. W-we just t-tried to stop a-an explosion!" Skye tried to explain as he struggled to extract himself from the vents. Finally he succeeded, only to crash to the ground. (ooc: I dunno. give me a chance to think. Maybe I should wake up Melody too?)

Skye reached the edge of the vent and popped out. "Auntie R-rouge? Hope? Are y-you here?" He looked around and instead came face to face with an armed guard. "Um, H-hi t-there!" Skye nervously waved. (ooc: Skye is probably going to be the prime suspect here. :wacko: He's the only one who saw the bomb, was playing around with likely classified tech, and his background isn't going to help! )

Yeah, but considering that the Xorda were willing to destroy all life on the planet TWICE, they come out worse in who is the biggest Duckhead steaks. You can't really hold the moral high-ground when you compare 'We killed one of your kind' to 'we destroyed all life on your planet, and now we will do so again!' And don't even get me started on the Bem. If there was ever a race that required the Prime Directive.... I hope you're right. That would possibly be the best option.

"I'll t-try. I'm a little s-stuck right now. But Uncle Shadow, I s-saw a GUN l-logo on that bomb!"