Walt felt his feet leave the ground, his body hanging in the air as if he were being dangled by a rope from the ceiling, His arms instinctively lashed outwards, looking for something to grip onto, but even in the cramped space of the ship’s bridge his hands only grasped at air. Moments later though his feet touched back on the ground, his body stood upright. Once he had regained his balance and his composure, Walt slipped his hands into his pockets and flicked some of the hair out of his face. Zakarr seemed to have lifted him with some kind of telekinetic ability which was impressive in its own right. He only knew of one human telekinetic and even then it was only a rumour, likely constructed to discourage people from picking a fight with one of Earth’s largest criminal organisations.

Zakarr, the well dressed and heavily armoured alien, seemed to know an awful lot about Walt, down to the very specifics of his superhuman abilities. Walt cocked an eyebrow, curious as to how the creature knew so much about him, but accepted it as one of those nuances that came with being beamed up into an alien spaceship. Zakarr had been analysing them, he thought, and was intrigued as to what else he knew about them.

“I’m not a spy or an assassin,” Walt said, speaking up to the vulkan prince in his typically loud and brash manner. He moved a little closer to Alison who had finally picked herself up from the ground, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and smiling wide. Alison looked noticeably awkward but accepted the hug regardless. “I came because my best friend sounded like she could use some help. When you see that friend abducted by aliens it becomes almost rational to jump in after them.”

Even though Walt was trying not to come off as confrontational he understood perfectly well that he was being defensive and it might be misconstrued as such. His hands clenched into a fist, his heart racing a little faster as he felt the iron sights of the alien weaponry pointed at his chest. He could feel the silicon in the ship, pumping through it like its life-blood. The computing systems of the ship had silicon in them, as did some of the structural materials that held the ship in one piece. It was enough to protect himself if Zakarr decided Walt was not worth the effort of keeping around… but he was not sure if he would be able to conjure up such an amount before the guards could pull their triggers.

He relaxed when Zakarr declared him an ally: he clearly knew that he was not a threat if he knew as much about him to go into detail about his powers. He was taken back by the use of the world “primitive” to describe him but he paid it no mind after his first bout of shock, just happy to have the guns pointed away from him for the first time since he had stepped foot aboard the rebel ship.

“Thanks,” he said, nodding his head to Zakarr in respect, although he was sure that a prince was used to far greater displays than he could offer.

Richie watched the exchange with a slight smile. Walter was the man that Alison had been contacting on occasion and it was interesting to finally see him in person. A close friend of Alison’s, or so he seemed, and one with an equally interesting ability. Going by the name of Ground Zero, Walter Pitt could manipulate the element silicon in all of its forms, allowing him to twist stone, crystal, and glass to his whim. He was powerful, that was for sure, but Walter was surprisingly absent from the media. Richie had learned plenty from his network of contacts but he would be interested in finding out what made the man tick first hand.

For now though he let Walter have his fun, playfully chatting to Alison about the situation without a care in the world. It was charming, really, how he could remain so calm and joke so naturally about the situation when they were about to be rushed off to war. Richie was still wracked with curiousity and immediately set about interrogating Zakarr, eager to learn more about the situation.

He would have, at least, if Skull-Man hadn’t considered it more important to decide what song they were going to play as they began their journey. Walt voiced his opinion on the matter, wholeheartedly supporting Hooked on a Feeling, and even Alison agreed after a reluctant groan and a nudge from Walt.

Thankfully, Natasha brought the conversation back on topic and Richie was happy to continue it. “So we have three targets that we need to take down in order to bring back some stability.”

He brought his wrist up, tapping a few keys on his gauntlet. It flashed blue, a thick stream of data appearing on the screen in mere moments. Richie had absorbed the raw data from the ship’s computing system, copying everything of note onto his own personal computer. It would take a long while to convert the information into something that was readable, unless the vulkan’s computers happened to run on Windows 7 which he figured unlikely, but it meant he could study the case files and find as many weaknesses in the targets as possible in his own time. Richie expected to have plenty of time to work while the ship reached its destination.

Richie spoke up again, asking his questions. “What do we know of their weaknesses, physical, emotional, and mental? What do their routines consist of? Do we have a location for all three of them or are they still being tracked? Ultimately though, what is our goal? Do you want us to bring them in alive or are you asking us to kill them?”

Alison clenched her teeth at the mention of killing. She had only done it once before and that was in self-defense; Alison had no intention of doing it again soon. Even if the actions of these people had warranted their death, was it really their right to give it to them? She didn’t think so. Even Walter, so cheerful only moments earlier, looked a little on edge after the mention of it.

‘[I]Do not go~[/I]’

The red haired woman felt the words creep down her spine, not spoken through sound but through thought. She recognised the voice, sharp and metallic like heavy machinery, booming but oddly rhythmic. Ra, the Demon Lord that possessed her, was speaking to her personally. It was a rare event but not so much so that it excited Alison. Instead she had grown tired of it, being told what to do by a spirit without even a physical form.

Even if Alison did not want to kill, these vulkans clearly needed help. Ra wished her to stay to fight that which the Demon Lord hated, but this time she was going to follow her own path. She buried the words that Ra spoke deep, ignoring them almost completely. When Richie spoke next she had discarded the idea of abandoning the rescue mission entirely.

“Also, can we listen to Hooked on a Feeling?” he asked.

Richie’s smirk grew a little wider.