In Avery’s Dimension, Natchez, Mississippi, Talia’s lakeside house,
Talia wakes up, more relaxed than usual.
“After renouncing her father’s company, Black Inc., Talia Black has not been seen in the public eye in weeks. Especially after the wild accusations that she stole millions of dollars of technology and funds from the company’s secure Emergency Fund. An account that helps the millions of employees who depend on it through hard times, such as the recent worldwide ice age.” A news reporter said, wearing a snow jacket, on television.
“Seriously, they’re still blaming me for their incompetence.” Talia thinks as she walks into the kitchen.
“Good morning, Talia,” Mary said, feeding Jr.
“Good morning, Mom,” Talia replied.
“What?” Mary said, shocked.
“I said ‘Good morning, Mom.’ Is there a problem?” Talia said.
“No… not at all. I was just shocked that you called me ‘Mom’. You usually just call me by my name.”
“Well, despite the circumstances, you did love my father and gave birth to my baby brother. So, I should at least show you some kind of acceptance and respect as my stepmother.” Talia explained, fixing herself a cup of coffee.
“Wow, I never expected that from you.” Mary thought.
“So, what brings you here to my lovely, quiet home?” Talia asked.
“Well, one, I wanted to see you… and how you were doing. Only to find that the planet is in an ice age and you… renouncing your father’s business.”
“Crazy, right? Those Mystics and other sorcerers have their work cut out for them. The people responsible for this are extremely powerful monsters.” Talia said.
“Talia, you know that’s not what I want to talk about. Why did you renounce your family business?”
“Why? Because I'd had enough of the board every day… nagging… and complaining… and manipulating… just to get their 18-year-old CEO out of their position.”
“Okay, makes sense. The board was acting the same way with your father,” Mary said.
“Speaking of, I had the opportunity to meet a younger version of Dad.”
“Oh no,” Mary thought.
“Did you read my mind?” Talia said.
“Didn’t need to… I know how your father was when he was younger. He was…
“Difficult… Annoying… Touchy.” Talia said.
“He didn’t,” Mary said, shocked.
Talia nodded, causing Mary to sigh with disappointment. “Not just me. But... anyways… did you really think I wouldn’t notice those two outside?” Talia said, pointing at the door.
“Well, judging by this house, I would’ve thought you’d lost your assassin’s edge,” Mary said.
“Indestructible windows, courtesy of Avery and the Lucrada family. Anyways, what do they want?”
“Ask them for yourself,” Mary said.
Suddenly, an entrance opened, revealing an underground tunnel. Talia, Mary, Cassie, and T’Wanda walk down the tunnel into Talia’s HQ.
“Woah, how do you afford all of this?” T’Wanda asked.
“Well, besides being a major shareholder of Lucrada Inc., I still have money from all the shares I received. But, I built this bunker months ago while learning my powers.”
“Powers? You mean like the ones you’ve inherited from Malcolm.” Cassie said.
“No, some new acquired ones.”
“That must’ve been what I felt during the Police Island Lockdown.” T’Wanda thought.
“So, you want my help to get control of the criminal lowlife in the city and move some of the civilians out of the city. Where do you expect them to move? The entire planet is covered in ice.” Talia said.
“Well, we were hoping you could move them to that underground city you and Avery discovered,” Cassie said.
“You want to use Sub-Terria. You should know that the Sub-Terrians don’t like surface-worlders. And we barely have a peace treaty with them.”
“Then, what about Savari? We just need someplace that is safer for civilians than Chicago. Not even the cops can be trusted.”
“Really, Captain Lopez can’t keep her officers in line.”
“Captain Lopez… lost her position after she failed to regain the Police Island. She’s currently watching over some of the civilians in the Cave.”
“Serio… wait, I might have a good place to send them. But let me make a call.” Talia said.
Twenty minutes later,
Talia, Cassie, and T’Wanda walk down to the platform on the bottom of the base.
“What are we doing down here?”
“We’re going to Chicago. I keep a Hyperlane down here to get to the Cache when I need it.” Talia explained as a custom military truck rose from the ground.
“Hyper-lane?”
In Chicago, in the Underground Cache,
Driving out of a portal, the truck came to a hard stop. Scared, T’Wanda and Cassiel slowly got out of the truck.
“What the… T’Wanda and Cassie suddenly felt like throwing up.
“Take it easy… you’re not used to moving at those kinds of speeds,” Talia said as she stepped out of the truck.
“How are you okay?”
“I’ll explain later. Ima go see if the vehicle we need is still here.” Talia said, walking away.
“What vehicle?” Cassie yelled.
“You’ll see,” Mary said as she got out of the truck.
“But, why won't she tell us anything? Aren’t we supposed to be working together on this?” T’Wanda said, upset.
“You’re right. We are supposed to be working together. However, Talia isn’t used to working with people like you. Her friends are more capable and laid back. They’re like her family. And all of you’ve seen her as an enemy, Am I right?” Mary asked.
“Well, yes and no. Over time, I’ve come to see her as a reliable teammate. But I never saw her like Cassie saw her.”
“And what did you see her as?”
“As family. She’s like the deadly twin sister I always wanted.”
Mary suddenly laughed. “Okay, how about I tell you about the plans?” she said.
“What?”
“I read her thoughts back at her Bunker. I can tell you her plans for moving the civilians.”
“No… I want her to tell me.” T’Wanda answered immediately, without hesitation.
Cassie nodded. “We want her to trust us. And for that, we need to have trust in her.” She continued.
Looking at Cassie and T’Wanda, Mary smiled. “Congratulations, you’ve both passed.”
“What?” T’Wanda and Cassie said, confused.
“First, let me apologize. I wanted to test you all. Truthfully, you all gained Talia’s and her friend’s trust already. I just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t break it.” Mary explained.
“Seriously?” Cassie said.
“How could you, of all people, think we would betray Talia?”
“I wasn’t worried about you breaking Talia’s trust.”
“Avery’s,” Cassie said.
“Exactly. Talia and Avery are basically sisters. You betray one, the other won’t be so forgiving. Please remember that from now on... as a part of the team.”
“Team?”
“Well, I guess she told you the surprise before we left,” Talia said as she walked to them.
“Wait… team. You mean?”
“Yes, you two are now a part of the ISL. However, it wasn’t my idea to test you. Anyways, we need to go. The vehicle is ready, and all we need to do is get them down here. Luckily, they’re still in the cave. We can use the tunnels connected.” Talia said as she summoned a holographic screen above them.
“You expect civilians to walk around aimlessly in a labyrinth of tunnels,” T’Wanda said.
“Not to mention, most of those tunnels are flooded,” Cassie said as she pointed at the screen.
“You’re right,” Talia said as she thought of another solution.
“Not the ones strictly for subway use. Not to mention, we can probably find more people there.”
“And let’s not forget about the distance between the Cave and here.”
“Right, it’ll take forever moving that many people in this kind of weather. Especially underground.” Talia thought. She then sighed. “Fine, I have no choice. There’s another place I have that I wanted to keep secret from those two. But I have no choice. Let’s go.” Talia said.
“Where are we going?” Mary, T’Wanda, and Cassie said.
Talia summons her Tumblr. “Get in,”
The Black Manor,
Talia presses a button, opening the tunnel entrance to the cave. Driving down the tunnel, Talia begins to slow down. Driving onto the platform, the Tumblr opens, and Talia climbs out of it.
“Why is it so dark? And, where is everyone?” Talia asks.
“I don’t know. There aren’t that many people in the world who know of this place. And none of them are villains.” T’Wanda said.
“My father,” Talia said.
“Okay, no villain here in Chicago knows about this place.”
“Guys, according to the cave’s surveillance systems, Officer Lopez led the people out through the catacombs. Then, it cuts off here.”
“The Power grid must’ve cut out. That leaves us without a plan.” T’Wanda said.
“Not really, the Towers and other ISL HQs are powered with an Interdimensional Energy Generator. It should keep them running eternally.” Talia said, summoning a hologram of the Tower’s Power Grid.
“Is something like that really possible?”
“You’ll be surprised by what’s possible and what’s not,” Talia said.
“So why haven’t you installed one here?” T’Wanda said.
“Because I don’t see this place as my HQ. This is yours and the others.” Talia said as she walked to the edge of the platform. She then jumped off with no hesitation.
“Did she just…
“Falcon Dive off this platform for a little extra dramatic effect. Yes…yes she did.” Cassie responded.
“Hey! Are you two coming or what?” Talia yelled.
“Before you go, shouldn’t you three gear up? At least put on your Arctic suits.” Mary said, holding T’Wanda’s and Cassie’s Arctic suits.
“Right,” they answered. “Talia, come back up. We need to get changed.”
“Right, I’ll get us some back-up,” Talia said.
“You two, young lady,” Mary said.
Talia sighed. “I should’ve brought some gear from the…
“Underground Cache. Here.” Cindy said, giving her a case.
“Cindy? What are you doing here?” Talia said, surprised.
“Well, Avery asked if some of us could come and help you and Amalia. Dante and Gwen are sneaking into the Sorcerer’s Tower. Amalia was able to send her people to Savari in Dante’s dimension. Megra is helping Avery’s mother keep their crime rate down while protecting the president. Drew should be on her way here to set up a comm center.”
“Why here? Wait… did you say Dante and Gwen… working together? Is that safe?” Talia said, grabbing the case.
“Don’t worry, they have been getting better. I think.” Cindy said.
“Anyway, can you do me a favor and run after the people in this tunnel and tell them to come back. I don’t think they got too far.” Talia said.
“Sure,” Cindy, then, took off down the tunnel at supersonic speed.
Walking up some stairs, Talia was shocked to see T’Wanda and Cassie wearing white and black outfits with long black capes.
“Change of plans. Back-up came sooner than expected. So, stay here while I go do recon.”
“What? What happened?” T’Wanda asked as Talia made her way to the Garage.
“I’m going back to the Underground Cache and getting some more supplies we might need. And I also need to see what the criminal organizations are doing. And, we still don’t have any eyes in the sky.” Talia said, placing the case on the ground and opening it. Inside was her extreme cold suit that Drew designed for the coldness of frozen planets like Crystalist.
“Then, let us help. I’m sure the thre…
“No, you two need to be here for the civilians when they come back. Besides, I can move quicker and better alone.” Talia said.
“Fine, but here. Keep this on. We don’t have a way to keep in contact with you since the Cave is o… Suddenly, the Cave regains power, and everything powers up. “What the…
“Drew. She must’ve found the Cave’s power generator.” Talia said.
“And it didn’t even take me as long as I thought it would. I even got the comms up and running through the Tower’s Comm system.” Drew said.
“Good, is everybody listening?”
“Good to hear you’re okay, sis?” Dani said, running on the roofs of Japan away from Ninjas with Asuka and Nanaki.
“Codex and Hex here, we can hear you too. This place is huge.” Dante responded.
“Everything is good in DC,” Megra said.
“I’m on my way back. Just give me a few minutes.” Amalia answers.
“Talia, I got to the civilians, and we’re headed back,” Cindy said.
“Sorry, I’m not there right now. But I told the president I wouldn’t get involved. But I’ll be available if you need anything.” Avery said as she fed a dragon while holding baby Silver. “Oh, and Dante, please think about what we talked about?”
“Alright, I think about it,” Dante answered.
“Do I want to know what that was about?” Gwen asked as she peeked around a corner.
“Nothing that you need to worry about,” Dante said as he walked around the corner.
Gwen sighed. “I thought we were good,” Gwen said.
Dante looked up at a floating door. Opening, a woman floats out of it and looks down at Dante and Gwen. “What are you two doing here? You shouldn’t be here.” She said.
“Well, the fact that the world outside is basically frozen because of magic. I think this is where we need to be.” Dante said.
“Please, the people can’t live much longer like this. That’s why we need to work together. I’m sure there's something in this place that can help reverse this Modern-day Ice Age.” Gwen said.
“I can assure you we’re doing everything we can to fix this problem. Now, please leave.” The woman responded, waving her hand.
“Okay, Plan B,” Dante said before flying up pass the woman and into a random door.
Meanwhile, back in Chicago,
Talia is zipping from roof to roof, noticing a couple of known criminals loading a truck with guns, food, and other supplies from a department store. Immediately, Talia quickly zipped down and took out all of them swiftly.
“Must be some of Roach’s men.” Talia thought as she walked over to the truck’s back door.
“Well, would you look who it is? Miss High and Mighty Herself, Knight. What are you doing back here?” one of the goons said.
“Apparently, stopping you from stealing and taking advantage of struggling civilians.”
“Taking Advantage? Is that what you think we’re doing?”
“What?”
“Talia, we have a problem here,” Cindy said on her Comms.
“What’s wrong?”
“Well, Dante and Gwen couldn’t find a solution to defrost the planet. And the President and UN just got in contact with IAC for help.” Megra said.
“Well, I wasn’t talking about that. But, I guess we have two problems. These people have started to fall due to the cold. Is there any way you can meet us with the transport here? Or do I need to rush each of them back to the cave one by one?” Cindy reported.
“No, Dante… Can you help them? Get them back to the… Wait, Avery said she wasn’t going to get involved, but you can. Can you teleport the civilians off-world until we get the Earth defrosted? Better yet, you can just…
“Let me stop you right there, T. I can move civilians off the planet, but you should also know that some of the Meta-humans have declared war on the United States. And I say the only thing stopping this country from becoming a war zone is…
“This modern-day ice age,” Talia said.
“Exactly, but I can move the civilians off the planet. Just tell me where.” Dante said as he created a portal.
“Any ideas?” Talia asks.
“How about my dimension’s Mars? We were able to make the atmosphere breathable.”
“Really? Then can we do the same for ours? I’m sure it would be a big help.” Talia said.
“Sure, I’m sure with Dante’s help, we can create a breathable atmosphere in seconds. We can even build a HyperGate to link up with the other ones here on Earth.” Drew answered.
“The what?” T’Wanda and Cassiel said.
“Right, they were able to hide away with their civilian lives when the Hunters attacked.” Talia thought. “Don’t worry about the details. You know how we got from Natchez to Detroit so quickly. It’s that, but think… interplanetary travel. It’s how we got most of the heroes and other Metas off planet during the Hunters’ first attack.” She explained.
“And no one thought we would’ve liked to get off the planet,” Cassie said.
“Well, thanks to Sentry, you weren’t in Neuron’s Hero Database, so the Hunters didn’t have any information on you sidekicks,” Mary said.
“A little offended by the S word, but I’ll let it go,” Rook said over the communicator.
“Rook, thank goodness. You’re alive.” T’ Wanda said.
“Easy there, Minerva. You sound almost worried about me.”
“Of Course, you idiot. Especially when you don’t report in like you’ve been told.” Cassie said.
“Well, I’ve been tied up with something with a couple of friends of ours.”
“Please don’t tell me you were with the Wrecker Twins? You do realize they hate us, Sentry Kids.” Cassie said.
“Yeah, I know. But they’re willing to help us.”
“Yeah, right, I’ll believe that when pigs fly,” T’Wanda said.
“Well, technically.”
“Yeah, I know. Piglet the Wonder Pig can fly, but you and I both know he doesn’t count.”
“Okay, let’s cut the chit chat. Dante… Drew… go ahead and begin adjusting Mars’ atmosphere. Cassie and T’Wanda, locate the …
Suddenly, something crashes in front of Talia and stares at her with glowing eyes. “Aw, crap. Farnusian?” she said.
“On my way,” Dante and Avery said as they disappeared.
“They won’t make i… A sudden sonic boom echoes as the Farnusian disappears. “Wow, that has to be a new record.” Talia thought.
“Talia, are you okay?” Mary asked.
“Yeah, is everything okay in the Cave? If not, move to Sentry’s Armory underneath Black Inc. I locked it from the upper levels, so it should be safe there.”
“Why such concern? You know, I used to be a superhero while you were running around in diapers?” Mary said.
“Well, excuse me for being worried about my stepmother,” Talia said.
“Ah… you actually care about me,” Mary said jokingly.
“Seriously, you’re making jokes right now. Anyways, just get ready. Once I get back, we’ll be moving everyone out of the city.”
“Any idea how?”
“Well, the HyperG…
“Talia, bad news. We have a little situation on Mars. The Martians' Leaders won’t allow us to bring any refugees to their planet.” Dante said over the communicator.
“I didn’t know Mars had people… let alone leaders,” Talia said.
“Neither did I. I just assumed it was empty like my dimension. But they’re really set on not having any refugees.”
“Uh, I think can tell you why my father won’t allow you human on our planet.” A cat said.
“Uh,”
“Yes, I heard the cat speak, too. And to tell you the truth… Not the strangest I’ve ever seen.” Dante said calmly.
“Dante, remind me to have a talk with you about the strangest things you ever seen. My interest just peaked.” Drew says but was internally screaming.
“I see my form is distressing you. Does this work better for you?” the cat said, transforming into a naked girl, around Drew’s age.
Immediately, Drew covered Dante’s eyes, yelling, “No!”
“Is this not satisfactory? Why?”
“Try clothes,” Drew said, embarrassed.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Give me a second.” The girl said as her eyes glowed. Suddenly, a thin black layer appeared on her body. “Is this satisfactory?”
“Guess so,” Drew answered.
“Alright… Then, I’ll explain why my father doesn’t want humans on our planet.”
Back on Earth, Chicago, The Cave
Talia, Cindy, and the others are standing in front a Holo-Table looking at a three-dimensional image of the planet.
“Alright, so we can’t get the people off the planet. And, we can’t defrost the planet due to it being a magical problem, and the Sorcerers don’t like it when others intervene with their business. So, I was thinking we could move them to the one place on Earth that stays warm despite its location.” Talia said.
“Where are you thinking?”
“Avery has a third home, here on Earth. She calls it the Igloo. And despite its name, it’s probably the hottest place on Earth, thanks to the micro-suns she keeps there.”
“Seriously? How does she do the things she can do?” Rook said.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know,” Talia said.
“Oh, now I have to know,” Cassie said.
“She’s a God,” Talia said nonchalantly.
“What?!” Cassie, T’Wanda, Rook, and David yelled, shocked.
“Did they not know that?” Cindy thought, confused by their reactions.
“Well, A Transcendent Being. She and Dante are on a whole nother level than the Gods. Anyways, we need a large vehi…
“AROOOOO!!!!” a wolf howls.
“What the … since when did we get a dog?” Rook asked.
“That’s not a dog,” Cassie said nervously as a large wolf landed behind them.
“Don’t worry, she’s not what you think,” Talia said calmly as the wolf walked up behind her.
“Aunt Talia, I’m here to help. What do you need me to do?” the wolf said, transforming into a teenage girl.
“Leah, what are you doing here?” Talia said.
“Well… after she put Silver, Mal, and Mel to bed for their naps, Mom told me I should come and help here since you’re going through a crisis.” The girl answered, leaning on the Holo-table.
“And, you wanted some more experience in Heroing.” Talia thought. “Alright, I understand. How about you go out and scout out the remainder of the city for survivors. But be careful.” Talia said.
“I will,” Leah yells, running and flying off out of the Cave.
“And that was?” T’Wanda asked.
“Dante’s third… no, fourth daughter,” Talia responded as she summoned a shadow warrior.
“What the… Since when could you have …
“Not important. Keep an eye on Leah. Make sure no one catches her off guard.” Talia said.
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