The Waiting Grove -
Bob Banner nodded, a chilly feeling then coming over him. He knew now why the universe had brought Lana here. It wasn't so that way he could see his daughter again, so that way he could know that she was safe and loved - no, it was so he could lose her all over again. He would have to cast her away into the multiverse, sending her far away. He would have to be the one to do it; he was the first one, to his knowledge, who had cracked the code of multiversal travel. "I'll get you home to her," Banner swore. "It'll take me a day or two to get the machine running again, but... I'll make sure it happens."
Raynor was grateful to hear that Bob would send them all back to Earth-666. His cousin had summoned an immense amount of dark magic in order to send him to Earth-666 last time, back when Sparky was just a little baby. He knew his cousin must've paid a dear price for that, one that he could never repay, no matter what he did. "Thanks... Bob," Raynor said. He wanted to let Sparky do most of the talking - this was her father, after all.
Flynn -
Bonnie turned to look at Flynn again for a moment, an amused smile twitching on her lips. "No. You didn't cause my burns," Bonnie said. "The fire had started long before you arrived on the scene, Agent Flynn. It wasn't your fault," she then finished, turning her attention back to her work. There was a flash of light, and an engagement ring appeared on her finger - but then it was gone as soon as it had appeared.
"My pain is not your burden," she said again, breaking the silence. "It's mine," she stressed. She then turned her attention to him again. Suddenly, Flynn would see manifestations of burn wounds and scar on his own body. "What burdens you, Agent Flynn?"
Bonnie -
"What choice do I possibly have to make?" Bonnie asked, the question coming out harsher than she had meant it. She hadn't asked to have a goddess inside of her head - she hadn't ever been consulted as to whether or not she wanted these gifts from Athena. Part of her was grateful to not be dead, particularly on behalf of her unborn daughter - but at the same time, Bonnie couldn't help but be angry. Her autonomy had been violated. She didn't have agency in these godly affairs.
Athena's bright eyes flashed for a moment. "I saved you from death in Cardiff. And I have done so again. I gave you my blessing freely," Athena said. "But now, the choice is yours - become my champion and accept my quests. In return, I will give you more than just my blessing... I will give you my power."
Bonnie narrowed her eyes for a moment. She couldn't help but feel suspicious. Why would a goddess give away power, unless desperate? "What sort of quests?" Bonnie asked bluntly. "I find it hard to believe an immortal goddess would need me to do anything she couldn't do herself."
"I am the goddess of heroes," Athena chided. "I cannot undertake tasks that make and shape a heroine. I can make my will known through my chosen - through champions like you, Bonnie. If you accept, then you will have the power needed to save your friends... and to save the multiverse. I will not offer it again."
Amelia -
Captain Marvel got off of her feet. Something had been knocked loose in Amelia's mind - a stray memory, not from her life in the Blue, but from growing up in Australia. It was such a random memory too, not one that would be deemed important or significant to anyone else, but important to Amelia all the same. It was her going to a bookstore in her late teens, buying the new St. John Allerdyce novel. She had always loved those romance stories - which she knew seemed silly, as Amelia never cared about romance for herself.
But it gave her a moment of clarity - Amelia felt that life. And she couldn't bear to lose it. She couldn't bear to lose a single bit of herself. "Right, sheila, if it's a fight you want, it's one you'll bloody get," Amelia promised. Captain Marvel began to glow, flying at Amelia.
And Amelia flew right back at her, unflinching, focused. Her head was clear and her heart was certain. She wanted to remember - to remember all of it, this world and that world.
Cass -
"Your thoughts are scrambled and slippery, Cassandra - I need you to focus, focus on one thing, something important to you," Professor X's voice said, echoing around her. If Cass looked around her room, she would see the walls were rippling and morphing. At one point, she was in her childhood bedroom, then, a moment later it had turned into her college dorm, and then it kept shifting and shifting, flickering between different rooms that Cass had called her own throughout the years.
If she focused on it too long, it would become incredibly disorienting. If she listened, she could hear different people's voices calling out to her - Carolina, Matt, Bonnie, Tinley, her mother, her father, Guin.
Maria -
Things would begin to crystallize inside of Maria's mind. There was the strange red glow in her own hands. Slowly though, the glow began to solidify, until Maria was holding what looked like a gigantic ruby in front of her. Her memories of Earth-257, she somehow knew, were contained inside of it. Leaving the ruby behind would mean throwing away those memories, locking them up essentially. But if she kept the ruby, if she accepted the memories, then they would be hers forever.
The choice was now hers - to become a Maria of two worlds or to stay a Maria of one.
Oliver -
Niah -
"Isn't that why you're here?" a Niah chided. "To murder us?"
"Psychic surgery - just a pretty way to dress up sororicide," another Niah chimed in.
The Niah holding onto her had burst into tears, her grip loosening. Sometimes, love and compassion was the best way to address an issue - especially when arguing with fragments of your own psyche. By comforting this Niah, Niah had put an end - at least for now - to the violence. "I matter - we all matter," the Niah said hoarsely. "Don't let him kill us."
Matt -
The kid didn't seem too happy to hear Matt explain that he didn't have a son. His eyes narrowed a little bit in anger. "Wow, real mature, Dad," the kid said, rolling his eyes now. The tentacles continued to pound over and over again against the walls of the submarine. "And of course I know where the bridge is, duh," the kid then added. The submarine wouldn't be able to take much more.
The kid walked off to Matt's right, heading in the direction of what must've been the bridge. The kid climbed up a ladder of sorts to go to one of the higher levels of the submarine. Matt would hear the glass crack - rather than him instantly dying though, as physics would likely deem, Matt would have a chance at outrunning the violent gush of water sweeping into the submarine.
Or the tentacle reaching inside...
