[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/vQOmUnK.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/DxUIER1.png[/img][/center]


Morning comes, and I slowly feel myself fading from the world of dreams to the world of the waking.  It's a gradual thing, for once.  No night terrors, no starting awake with a sharp cry and a cold sweat.  After hours of blissful tranquility, I'm actually ready to welcome the day.

Slowly, my senses drift from the joyful peace of my dream, to sensations of warmth and softness.  [color=MediumPurple]"Mmmmmmm,"[/color] I let out a gentle sigh, as I still feel safe and content in the embrace of.....

.....the [i]embrace?[/i] What the hell is [i]embracing[/i] me?!

[color=MediumPurple]"WHAT?!?!"[/color] I launch myself out of bed, black tendrils of arcane energy swirling around me as I jolt awake.  Lying in bed next to where I was sleeping is the orange-skinned space-girl, the one I could have sworn was all in my imagination.

She wakes with a gasp and darts into the air, her hands glowing with green plasma.

[color=Orange]"What has happened?"[/color] she asks as she flits about the room.  [color=Orange]"Are we under attack?  Have the 'ass-holes' returned?"[/color]

I stare at her, incredulous at the sheer absurdity of it all.

[color=MediumPurple]"What,"[/color] I demand, [color=MediumPurple]"were you doing in my bed?!"[/color]

Princess Kory looks at me with confusion, then lets the green fire leave her hands.  [color=Orange]"My apologies if I have startled you.  It was not my intention.  After you had begun to use the sleep, I saw that you were having a bad dream, so I thought it best to soothe you with an application of the snuggles."[/color]

She floats down and finally lets her feet touch the floor.  [color=Orange]"I again apologize if I have troubled you."[/color]

[color=MediumPurple]"No, I just,"[/color] I trail off, taking a few deep breaths to take everything in.  [color=MediumPurple]"Okay.  So.  Last night, I was pretty convinced that this whole thing was just some kind of stupid hallucination.  This morning, you're still here.  So either A) you're real, or B) I've gone completely insane.  Either way, I guess you're sticking around, and I just....need to get my head around....around the HIVE guys, around you, around all of it."[/color]

[color=Orange]"....but your head does not appear to be large enough or malleable enough to envelop me, let alone--"[/color]

[color=MediumPurple]"It's a figure of speech,"[/color] I wave it off.  [color=MediumPurple]"I just mean we need to figure out what we're going to [i]do[/i]."[/color]

I thought when I'd escaped from Sebastian Blood and his cultists in LA, that they would be the only people I would ever have to run from.  Now, though, there are these HIVE goons, who somehow found out about my 'gifts' and want to make me disappear.  Maybe they want to brainwash me into some super-soldier for them, maybe they want to cut me open and find out what makes me tick.  Whatever they want, I'm sure a flying alien is only going to bring more attention.

Part of me wants to tell this 'Princess Starfire' girl that she's on her own-- I don't need the extra danger that having her around brings.  I could just pack up, hit the road again, go off the grid for a while, and start over in another city, preferably somewhere a little less likely to have spaceships crash in front of me.

But HIVE would still be out there.  Sebastian Blood would still be out there.  And this girl clearly has no idea how to get by on this planet.  She wouldn't make it to the end of the week before they had her locked up or laid out on a dissection table.

A more cynical person might say "better her than me."  And maybe I am too cynical myself.  But I can't leave someone to the same fate that those people have in mind for me.

I let out another sigh, this one of exasperation and resignation.  I feel like I'm going to be doing that a lot.

[color=MediumPurple]"Okay,"[/color] I say, [color=MediumPurple]"until further notice, we're in this together.  So first I'm going to make some breakfast.  Then we're going to start looking into these HIVE people, and see if there's any way we can take them down, or at the very least get them to leave us alone."[/color]

[color=Orange]"Oh, thank you, friend Rachel!"[/color] Starfire exclaims, lifting off the air to scoop me up into a flying hug.  [color=Orange]"With the bonds of our friendship sealed, we will surely triumph over any 'ass-holes' who--"[/color]

[color=MediumPurple]"And [i]then[/i]"[/color] I say, struggling to pry myself free, [color=MediumPurple]"we are going to have a talk about respecting people's personal space."[/color]

[hr]

[color=MediumVioletRed]"Let's start from the top, shall we?  Starting with your name."[/color]

[color=YellowGreen]".....uhhh.....Alex.  Alex Rol Polinsky...."[/color]

[color=MediumVioletRed]"And how old are you, Mister Polinsky?"[/color]

[color=YellowGreen]"......s-s-sixteen.  L-look, there's p-people who are gonna be l-looking for me, okay?  Y-you c-c-c-can't just--"[/color]

[color=MediumVioletRed]"I'm afraid we [i]can[/i], Mister Polinsky.  But thankfully, that won't be necessary if you continue to cooperate.  Now, explain to me what you saw at the concert last night."[/color]

[color=YellowGreen]"Just....y'know, just s-s-s-stuff....then all the l-lights went out, a-and--"[/color]

[color=MediumVioletRed]"[i]Before[/i] the blackout.  You spoke to someone, yes?"[/color]

[color=YellowGreen]"Y-yeah?  It was a...a girl.  I t-think she was m-my age.  Dressed all g-goth like.  I t-tried to talk to her, and she y-yelled at me and--"[/color]

[color=MediumVioletRed]"Did you manage to get the young woman's name, Alex?"[/color]

[color=YellowGreen]"It w-was....oh man, what was it?  Reagan?  Raelyn?  It s-s-started with an R, I know that--"[/color]

[color=MediumVioletRed]"Hmm, disappointing that you can't recall it off the top of your head, but no worries.  I have ways of jogging your memory."[/color]

[color=YellowGreen]"W-wait, no, p-p-please, I'm just-"[/color]

[color=MediumVioletRed]"Later, Alex.  For now, what happened when you spoke to the young woman?"[/color]

[color=YellowGreen]"I j-j-just started t-talking to her about s-stuff.  I got n-nervous, so I t-talked about stuff I know about.  G-g-games and stuff.  And she just, like.....[i]freaked out[/i], like she was h-hearing voices or something."[/color]

[color=MediumVioletRed]"Interesting.  What happened next?"[/color]

[color=YellowGreen]"She r-ran into the bathroom, then all the l-l-lights went out.  It was, like, I dunno.....like....m-m-[i]magic[/i] or something."[/color]

[color=Pink]"Oooooooh, did you say [i]magic?[/i]"[/color]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/1UIYhJEm.jpg[/img][/center]

[color=Pink]"Because I [i]loooove[/i] magic...."[/color]