Re: The Rebel *Sequel* (CC ALL, YTEEN) Ch. 39 - pg. 22 - 2 / 15 / 25
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2025 8:08 pm
Part 40: Crystal-Clear
November 2nd, 2011 - New York
1 : Jade
Of all the things Jade had envisioned happening today—presenting himself to Liz as her bodyguard, getting his answer to the Zan question, seeing Van after almost two years—returning to Antar was nowhere on that list.
In fact, returning to Antar was part of no list he would ever write. He’d decided a long time ago that Earth would become his adopted world. Shifters lived long lives, especially compared to humans, and Earth had so much to offer to one who wanted to roam free.
Even if Max had decided to leave Earth and rule Antar, Jade would be so far away from the Seal’s compulsion powers that forsaking his own world was more than welcome.
And yet… here we are, he thought as the wormhole opened in front of them. He and Luke were going to take point, ensuring the coast was clear. Not only was Van coming along with the Royal Seal of Antar safely stenciled in his brain, Max was also coming. If Khivar struck their arriving point by some seriously bad luck, then the Rebellion would be over.
He stepped in, not even blinking at the black engulfing door. He’d done this trip once, eight years ago. And just like then, it took but a heartbeat to step in and then step out on Antarian soil.
Home—or something like it.
The wormhole opened at a concealed structure tucked inside a mountain, far enough from the palace to not be picked up by Khivar’s energy scanners, but close enough to have access to the enormous electrical needs for this to work. There were only three points on the entire planet they could concealed themselves coming and going, and this was the farthest of them all.
Cold air met his skin, thinner and cleaner than New York’s air. The control room was deserted by Van’s command, hidden in shadows. As Jade stepped in, movement activated monitors that show strategic places around this safe house and the capital city.
In the distance, the palace’s purple and green banners shone under powerful lights pointing to the night sky. Khivar’s colors, so abhorrent even a decade later.
Jade dissolved himself into the floor and lost no time checking the perimeter. He’d been doing the same thing for Liz for years, but he’d never really expected to find trouble, and that had made him soft.
Now, though, all his nerves were firing at their max as he swept the entire room while Luke came in. Out they went, inspecting all the rooms in the perimeter, making sure this place had not been breached since Van had left this morning.
Two minutes later, Luke met him at the entrance, nodding. Luke sent the all-clear beacon while Jade moved to the control console. Once everyone was here, they had to recalibrate the machine to redirect the opening on Earth’s side somewhere away from New York. Calculations would take time, though, so he had to make a head start.
Violet came then, silently dissolving the moment she set foot here. Ash came after her, also disappearing as fast as he could. They were the Invisible Guard for a reason.
“They’re going to be a handful once they’re here,” Luke said as he stood to attention, waiting for Van’s arrival. Jade smiled. He bet Liz would get a kick out of this.
2 : Ray
It took him a while to reach what passed as a garage in this place, but Ray was finally inspecting the bikes and the car when Langley literally appeared from the wall.
“Jesus!” Ray said, reaching for a gun that wasn’t there.
“They messed the third exit by some freaky accident,” the shifter said, disregarding Ray’s sudden heart attack.
“That means—”
“We might just cross paths with them sooner rather than later if we don’t leave this place soon.”
“Are you okay?” Ray asked, concerned.
“No. I was too close to the explosion… I won’t be much help if we have to face them, so you better pick up some guns for the road,” Langley answered, pointing with a finger to a small armory at the end of the spacious garage.
Ray ran towards it without a second thought. If he needed to shoot his way out of here, he needed to be prepared. He was a descent shooter from a bike, and Kyle was not going to disappoint him, either. Dave and Jake had trained over the years, but they weren’t exactly top students under high stakes circumstances.
He wished he could have Michael by his side.
The door by his left opened at the exact same time he reached for the first gun, and he aimed without a second thought.
“Don’t—!” Kyle said, raising his arms in midair.
“Right,” Ray said, lowering his gun and then turning to look at the rest of his arsenal. He picked up two handguns, a couple of grenades, and then turned again as Kyle approached him, Dave and Jake in tow.
“What are you doing?” Kyle asked, urgency coloring his voice.
“Selecting our last chance to get out of here. Langley has just joined us,” he said, signaling the car with his head. “He says the third exit is no longer an option,” he added, handing Kyle a handgun as well. Out of all of them, Kyle had always been his brightest shooter. “You and I are going to play cover, while Dave and Jake get out of here by car. Langley, where are you going to be?” Ray asked as he finished handing guns and walking back to their escape vehicles.
“The car. I don’t have much energy left, but I can burst a few cars still,” he said as he opened the passenger door.
Dave got on the driver’s side, and Jake opened the copilot door. Ray was about to turn the bike on when a loud explosion shook them enough to reach for the wall for balance.
“What the hell?” Ray said, turning to look at the entrance where Kyle had come. It was still holding.
“They’ve set the compound to self-destruct,” Dave said as he turned on the car. “I don’t think this parking garage has too much time left, either.”
Dave floored the gas and got out towards the exit, and so did Kyle after him. Looking one last time at the entrance, Ray floored it as well.
Aliens, agents, whoever was chasing them, they were going to be sorely disappointed.
3 : Dave
Alien technology was too much of a wild card to leave it lying around while the Special Unit was lurking. Once enough breaches occurred, the place would automatically destroy the most sensitive parts of the compound.
He had no idea if Daniel’s little prison was part of that or not. Honestly, knowing that the little brat had ratted out Sybelle’s location had killed something inside Dave that he hadn’t even known was there. Maybe some sort of paternal instinct, maybe thinking that Daniel and himself were the same. Whatever it was, it was now dead and very much buried.
In the back seat, Langley looked outside the window, searching for anyone following them. They had narrowly escaped a roadblock by a couple of minutes, and New York’s million lights called them into the safety of anonymity and shadowy corners.
Kyle and Ray weaved through the traffic lines on their bikes, the dark helmets protecting their identities well. That Kyle had stayed to help find Sybelle had warmed Dave’s heart, he was not going to deny that. Part of him knew his goddaughter would settle one day, but this was happening all too soon. Was Kyle a good choice, though?
As long as Dave had a deal with them, the answer was no. Alas, hadn’t all that changed this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. when Max Evans had walked into the Empire State Building to meet his brother? By all accounts, Kyle Valenti was no longer indebted to him, and wasn’t that a revelation?
They entered New York City with one destination in mind: JFK airport. Even if his Network was barely working right now, Dave had enough contacts to get a private jet and get everyone out.
“You sure you’re okay?” Jake asked Langley.
“I’ll be. I’ve been in tighter situations. Where are we going, exactly?”
“England,” Dave answered. “Sybelle is still there, and I’ve managed to disrupt the Unit’s communications for a while. We’ll get her and then disappear.”
“That’s a six hour flight,” Langley warned.
“McKay will have his hands full with the imploding compound back there,” Dave said confidently. Langley shook his head.
“He’d left. Before the explosion, I saw his team leaving.”
“That makes no sense,” Dave said, briefly taking his eyes from the road to turn to look at Langley behind him.
“You should find where he went before we make any plans regarding England,” Langley warned.
Dave shook his head. He was going to go get his goddaughter one way or another. Out loud, he said, “You should rest. You really look like crap.”
The fact that Langley didn’t rise to the bait was the most worrisome part. It even looked as if the shifter was already asleep.
“You should have Ray training her,” Jake said at length as they made their way through New York’s traffic.
“I don’t want her thinking she’s Wonder Woman and taking on the bad guys…” Dave said, the lied he’d been telling himself for years now.
“I think she’s smart enough to know when to use deadly force…” Jake trailed off at Dave’s warning eyes. He didn’t need this right now. Not the what ifs and should haves.
“Is it too late to not be in her life so she’s not a target?” he asked. A rhetorical question and they both knew it. Even if he were to disappear, now that the Special Unit knew about her, she would never be safe.
Not until the Unit was gone.
4 : Max
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Michael asked. Max’s connection was still running low, and the little he’d tested his powers wasn’t encouraging.
“I’ll be,” he evasively answered. If they had to fight the Unit head on, he doubted they would last long.
“Are you okay?” Michael asked Maria, who was playing with her wedding ring.
“Sure. Just your run of the mill alien planet you’re visiting every other weekend,” she answered, not taking her eyes from the dark shadow of a portal that was the wormhole entrance.
“It’ll be a windowless room. Nothing to get excited about,” Van said apologetically as the console received Luke’s second green light.
“It’s another planet,” Liz said, torn between excitement and fear. “I know you communicate between five planets and space travel is this everyday occurrence, but for us? I’m—I’m speechless, that’s what I am, even if it’s just a windowless room.”
“I wish you could get to see Antar at its best,” Max said, holding her closer as Rose and the other two shifters went through. They needed all their fire power to contain Khivar if he was waiting on the other side.
A third green light came in, signifying all was going according to plan.
“I’m just amazed by the idea of it all,” Liz said, her anxiety spiking as their time to walk through the wormhole got closer.
“You’ll always be welcomed to visit,” Van said, his eyes softening as he looked at Max. He knew Van had gotten flashes of his life, and he wondered if Van finally understood the strong bonds that tied Max to Earth: friends, family, love.
“One thing at a time, though,” Maria said, finally snapping out of her trance. “You need to get the throne back, and then we can go vacationing on Antar.”
Van gave her a genuine smile at that and then walked into the wormhole.
Michael hugged her then. “I am sorry for screwing up our vacation.”
“Once this is all over, Space Boy—” she trailed off with a raised eyebrow as he walked in.
Another green light came a minute after. “Are you sure you want me to be the first human to walk—” Maria asked Liz.
“Go!” Liz said, almost giggling. Still hesitant, her best friend walked into the void.
“Your Majesty, we’ll be right behind you,” Jet said as a loud rumble passed them over.
“You know I don’t have the Seal anymore,” Max said, “You don’t need to address me like that.”
“You will always be our king, sir. Across the galaxy, in an alien body, with a different name—you’ll always be Antar’s king.”
I don’t deserve this devotion, Max thought, but knew better than to belittle this man’s sentiment with denial. Zan had been a good man, and by Max’s estimation, a decent king. As he gripped Liz’s hand and walked into true Antarian soil, all he could hope for was for these people—his people—to find in Van what they were looking for.
November 2nd, 2011 - New York
1 : Jade
Of all the things Jade had envisioned happening today—presenting himself to Liz as her bodyguard, getting his answer to the Zan question, seeing Van after almost two years—returning to Antar was nowhere on that list.
In fact, returning to Antar was part of no list he would ever write. He’d decided a long time ago that Earth would become his adopted world. Shifters lived long lives, especially compared to humans, and Earth had so much to offer to one who wanted to roam free.
Even if Max had decided to leave Earth and rule Antar, Jade would be so far away from the Seal’s compulsion powers that forsaking his own world was more than welcome.
And yet… here we are, he thought as the wormhole opened in front of them. He and Luke were going to take point, ensuring the coast was clear. Not only was Van coming along with the Royal Seal of Antar safely stenciled in his brain, Max was also coming. If Khivar struck their arriving point by some seriously bad luck, then the Rebellion would be over.
He stepped in, not even blinking at the black engulfing door. He’d done this trip once, eight years ago. And just like then, it took but a heartbeat to step in and then step out on Antarian soil.
Home—or something like it.
The wormhole opened at a concealed structure tucked inside a mountain, far enough from the palace to not be picked up by Khivar’s energy scanners, but close enough to have access to the enormous electrical needs for this to work. There were only three points on the entire planet they could concealed themselves coming and going, and this was the farthest of them all.
Cold air met his skin, thinner and cleaner than New York’s air. The control room was deserted by Van’s command, hidden in shadows. As Jade stepped in, movement activated monitors that show strategic places around this safe house and the capital city.
In the distance, the palace’s purple and green banners shone under powerful lights pointing to the night sky. Khivar’s colors, so abhorrent even a decade later.
Jade dissolved himself into the floor and lost no time checking the perimeter. He’d been doing the same thing for Liz for years, but he’d never really expected to find trouble, and that had made him soft.
Now, though, all his nerves were firing at their max as he swept the entire room while Luke came in. Out they went, inspecting all the rooms in the perimeter, making sure this place had not been breached since Van had left this morning.
Two minutes later, Luke met him at the entrance, nodding. Luke sent the all-clear beacon while Jade moved to the control console. Once everyone was here, they had to recalibrate the machine to redirect the opening on Earth’s side somewhere away from New York. Calculations would take time, though, so he had to make a head start.
Violet came then, silently dissolving the moment she set foot here. Ash came after her, also disappearing as fast as he could. They were the Invisible Guard for a reason.
“They’re going to be a handful once they’re here,” Luke said as he stood to attention, waiting for Van’s arrival. Jade smiled. He bet Liz would get a kick out of this.
2 : Ray
It took him a while to reach what passed as a garage in this place, but Ray was finally inspecting the bikes and the car when Langley literally appeared from the wall.
“Jesus!” Ray said, reaching for a gun that wasn’t there.
“They messed the third exit by some freaky accident,” the shifter said, disregarding Ray’s sudden heart attack.
“That means—”
“We might just cross paths with them sooner rather than later if we don’t leave this place soon.”
“Are you okay?” Ray asked, concerned.
“No. I was too close to the explosion… I won’t be much help if we have to face them, so you better pick up some guns for the road,” Langley answered, pointing with a finger to a small armory at the end of the spacious garage.
Ray ran towards it without a second thought. If he needed to shoot his way out of here, he needed to be prepared. He was a descent shooter from a bike, and Kyle was not going to disappoint him, either. Dave and Jake had trained over the years, but they weren’t exactly top students under high stakes circumstances.
He wished he could have Michael by his side.
The door by his left opened at the exact same time he reached for the first gun, and he aimed without a second thought.
“Don’t—!” Kyle said, raising his arms in midair.
“Right,” Ray said, lowering his gun and then turning to look at the rest of his arsenal. He picked up two handguns, a couple of grenades, and then turned again as Kyle approached him, Dave and Jake in tow.
“What are you doing?” Kyle asked, urgency coloring his voice.
“Selecting our last chance to get out of here. Langley has just joined us,” he said, signaling the car with his head. “He says the third exit is no longer an option,” he added, handing Kyle a handgun as well. Out of all of them, Kyle had always been his brightest shooter. “You and I are going to play cover, while Dave and Jake get out of here by car. Langley, where are you going to be?” Ray asked as he finished handing guns and walking back to their escape vehicles.
“The car. I don’t have much energy left, but I can burst a few cars still,” he said as he opened the passenger door.
Dave got on the driver’s side, and Jake opened the copilot door. Ray was about to turn the bike on when a loud explosion shook them enough to reach for the wall for balance.
“What the hell?” Ray said, turning to look at the entrance where Kyle had come. It was still holding.
“They’ve set the compound to self-destruct,” Dave said as he turned on the car. “I don’t think this parking garage has too much time left, either.”
Dave floored the gas and got out towards the exit, and so did Kyle after him. Looking one last time at the entrance, Ray floored it as well.
Aliens, agents, whoever was chasing them, they were going to be sorely disappointed.
3 : Dave
Alien technology was too much of a wild card to leave it lying around while the Special Unit was lurking. Once enough breaches occurred, the place would automatically destroy the most sensitive parts of the compound.
He had no idea if Daniel’s little prison was part of that or not. Honestly, knowing that the little brat had ratted out Sybelle’s location had killed something inside Dave that he hadn’t even known was there. Maybe some sort of paternal instinct, maybe thinking that Daniel and himself were the same. Whatever it was, it was now dead and very much buried.
In the back seat, Langley looked outside the window, searching for anyone following them. They had narrowly escaped a roadblock by a couple of minutes, and New York’s million lights called them into the safety of anonymity and shadowy corners.
Kyle and Ray weaved through the traffic lines on their bikes, the dark helmets protecting their identities well. That Kyle had stayed to help find Sybelle had warmed Dave’s heart, he was not going to deny that. Part of him knew his goddaughter would settle one day, but this was happening all too soon. Was Kyle a good choice, though?
As long as Dave had a deal with them, the answer was no. Alas, hadn’t all that changed this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. when Max Evans had walked into the Empire State Building to meet his brother? By all accounts, Kyle Valenti was no longer indebted to him, and wasn’t that a revelation?
They entered New York City with one destination in mind: JFK airport. Even if his Network was barely working right now, Dave had enough contacts to get a private jet and get everyone out.
“You sure you’re okay?” Jake asked Langley.
“I’ll be. I’ve been in tighter situations. Where are we going, exactly?”
“England,” Dave answered. “Sybelle is still there, and I’ve managed to disrupt the Unit’s communications for a while. We’ll get her and then disappear.”
“That’s a six hour flight,” Langley warned.
“McKay will have his hands full with the imploding compound back there,” Dave said confidently. Langley shook his head.
“He’d left. Before the explosion, I saw his team leaving.”
“That makes no sense,” Dave said, briefly taking his eyes from the road to turn to look at Langley behind him.
“You should find where he went before we make any plans regarding England,” Langley warned.
Dave shook his head. He was going to go get his goddaughter one way or another. Out loud, he said, “You should rest. You really look like crap.”
The fact that Langley didn’t rise to the bait was the most worrisome part. It even looked as if the shifter was already asleep.
“You should have Ray training her,” Jake said at length as they made their way through New York’s traffic.
“I don’t want her thinking she’s Wonder Woman and taking on the bad guys…” Dave said, the lied he’d been telling himself for years now.
“I think she’s smart enough to know when to use deadly force…” Jake trailed off at Dave’s warning eyes. He didn’t need this right now. Not the what ifs and should haves.
“Is it too late to not be in her life so she’s not a target?” he asked. A rhetorical question and they both knew it. Even if he were to disappear, now that the Special Unit knew about her, she would never be safe.
Not until the Unit was gone.
4 : Max
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Michael asked. Max’s connection was still running low, and the little he’d tested his powers wasn’t encouraging.
“I’ll be,” he evasively answered. If they had to fight the Unit head on, he doubted they would last long.
“Are you okay?” Michael asked Maria, who was playing with her wedding ring.
“Sure. Just your run of the mill alien planet you’re visiting every other weekend,” she answered, not taking her eyes from the dark shadow of a portal that was the wormhole entrance.
“It’ll be a windowless room. Nothing to get excited about,” Van said apologetically as the console received Luke’s second green light.
“It’s another planet,” Liz said, torn between excitement and fear. “I know you communicate between five planets and space travel is this everyday occurrence, but for us? I’m—I’m speechless, that’s what I am, even if it’s just a windowless room.”
“I wish you could get to see Antar at its best,” Max said, holding her closer as Rose and the other two shifters went through. They needed all their fire power to contain Khivar if he was waiting on the other side.
A third green light came in, signifying all was going according to plan.
“I’m just amazed by the idea of it all,” Liz said, her anxiety spiking as their time to walk through the wormhole got closer.
“You’ll always be welcomed to visit,” Van said, his eyes softening as he looked at Max. He knew Van had gotten flashes of his life, and he wondered if Van finally understood the strong bonds that tied Max to Earth: friends, family, love.
“One thing at a time, though,” Maria said, finally snapping out of her trance. “You need to get the throne back, and then we can go vacationing on Antar.”
Van gave her a genuine smile at that and then walked into the wormhole.
Michael hugged her then. “I am sorry for screwing up our vacation.”
“Once this is all over, Space Boy—” she trailed off with a raised eyebrow as he walked in.
Another green light came a minute after. “Are you sure you want me to be the first human to walk—” Maria asked Liz.
“Go!” Liz said, almost giggling. Still hesitant, her best friend walked into the void.
“Your Majesty, we’ll be right behind you,” Jet said as a loud rumble passed them over.
“You know I don’t have the Seal anymore,” Max said, “You don’t need to address me like that.”
“You will always be our king, sir. Across the galaxy, in an alien body, with a different name—you’ll always be Antar’s king.”
I don’t deserve this devotion, Max thought, but knew better than to belittle this man’s sentiment with denial. Zan had been a good man, and by Max’s estimation, a decent king. As he gripped Liz’s hand and walked into true Antarian soil, all he could hope for was for these people—his people—to find in Van what they were looking for.