Re X Mix/Part 1

It was a dark and stormy night; well, in a way. It was certainly dark, but the storminess primarily came off of Malincious Crow as he sat in an alleyway downing an assload of booze. At some point in his drunken haze, he noticed a tall, pink alien with black armor walking up to him while carrying a small card.

"Are you..." The alien checked her note. "Malincious Crow?"

"Unfortunately." Crow grumbled. "What do you want?"

"Our organization is interested in hiring you." The alien said. "You've apparently got a bit of a reputation."

"Yeah, not for long." Crow took another drink. "Look, I already got recruited by someone. Go find someone else to do...whatever it is you people are doing."

"Well, no skin off my back." The alien shrugged. "I'm not even sure what you do."

Crow chugged down the rest of the bottle as the alien walked away. He woozily stared at his reflection in the opaque glass for a moment before throwing it away.

"'Could've been a dentist." He muttered. "'Could've just been a fucking dentist."

Teresa strolled through Liberty Park, looking for a good place to do some training exercises with CROSS. Before she knew it, however, she was suddenly grabbed from behind and spun around to face Claire, who was glaring at her with malicious intent.

'I really need to stop coming here...' Teresa thought to herself

"Hey, you know why I'm here alone?" Claire hissed.

"B-because you wanted some alone time?" Teresa offered nervously.

"I'm here alone because you did something to Anne!" Claire snapped, grabbing Teresa by her shirt collar. "Why else would she try standing up for you all of a sudden?!"

"From what she said, it didn't sound like a very sudden decision at all..." Teresa mumbled.

"SHUT IT!" Claire yelled. "Anne is my only friend, and I'm not gonna let trash like you tear us apart!"

Teresa winced as Claire wound up for a punch, only for them to be interrupted as-

"Out of the way, morons, you're blocking the sidewalk." A new voice came from behind them.

They turned to look at whoever had butted into the situation, only for the new arrival to push them off to the sides so he could walk past.

"Wha- Hey, you can't just push me around like that!" Claire snapped. "Who do you think you are?!"

"Isaac Logical." The young adult turned to face her with an unimpressed look. "I can do whatever the hell I want."

Teresa stood dumbfounded at the new guy's complete inability to give a fuck. Claire hissed and grabbed him by the collar, getting up in his face.

"Maybe that's how it works in whatever hovel you crawled out of, but around here, I'm the one in charge, you understand me?!"

"You're in charge?" Isaac snorted. "In charge of what, the local 'pain in the ass' community?"

"Excuse me?!"

"Nah." Isaac tsked. "Look, somehow I doubt a temperamental garden gnome holds that much influence in...well, I was gonna say 'a big city', but anywhere, really."

"Why, you-"

Claire let go of Isaac and punched him in the gut. Thoroughly annoyed by all this, Isaac countered with a swift uppercut to her chin. It didn't hit particularly hard, but she began stumbling backward in shock.

"You..." Claire muttered in disbelief. "You hit me!"

"Uh, yeah, that's usually what happens when you punch someone, dumbass." Isaac huffed. "They hit back."

"You-you'll be sorry for this!" Claire hissed as she made a rather unflattering getaway.

"Joke's on her, I've never been sorry for anything." Isaac sniffed, then turned to look at Teresa. "Geez, why do you hang out with someone like that?"

"H-hang out?!" Teresa exclaimed. "Wha- she was trying to fight me! How did you not see that?!"

"To be perfectly honest, I don't pay much attention to what's going on around me unless something gets in my way." Isaac shrugged lazily. "Guess I jumped to conclusions a bit too quick here."

"Geez..." Teresa sighed. "You should be careful around here. What if you run into somebody with an EvoLock?"

"You mean those shitty knockoff Omnitrixes?" Isaac snorted, pulling up his left sleeve to reveal a green gauntlet-like Omnitrix on his wrist. "Can't say I'm too worried since I got the real deal right here."

"Y-you have one too?" Teresa stammered in surprise.

"Damn right I-" Isaac began to nod smugly before pausing. "Wait, what do you mean 'too'?"

"CROSS!"

The CrossTrix came flying into the area and attached itself to her wrist, generating its gauntlet mode.

"Alright, that's a new one." Isaac grunted. "Where the hell did you get that?"

"It's, um..." Teresa tapped her fingers together nervously. "Kind of a long story..."

"It's not all that long." The CrossTrix spoke up. "I found her when she was-"

"Nope, it's definitely way too long!" Teresa covered the CrossTrix's dial in an attempt to muffle it.

"You do realize that's not where my speaker is, right?"

"Huh, so it talks?" Isaac leaned in to get a closer look at it. "Do you know who built it?"

"Dr. Emilia Krauze." The CrossTrix answered. "She also created the EvoLock system."

"Went from knockoff Omnitrixes to a genuine article." Isaac whistled. "Well, I gotta respect the hustle."

"So...how'd you get yours?" Teresa asked.

"You ever listen to that Daughtry single 'Crashed'?" Isaac replied.

"Uh...no?"

"Well, I guess all you need to know is in the name." Isaac shrugged.

"Why didn't you just say 'it crashed'?" The CrossTrix beeped.

"Because that's not how I roll." Isaac smirked.

"You are a very strange person."

"I get the feeling you're gonna be repeating that in about five seconds."

"Wha-"

The CrossTrix paused as the ground started shaking beneath them. All of a sudden, a massive orange drill exploded out of the grass next to Isaac, followed by another person about his age bursting out of the hole, his arm having been attached to the drill. A cloud of orange nanomachines quickly set to work reconstructing the dug-out landscaping, allowing the guy who had emerged from the hole to land safely on his feet.

"Took you long enough." Isaac grunted. "You pass Moranna on the way here?"

"Yeah, she's still casing out the building." The new arrival replied, dissipating the drill around his arm. "She doesn't trust that Raven guy one bit."

"It's Raivent, and yeah, neither do I." Isaac sighed. "Still, I think she's going a bit overboard."

"U-um..." Teresa spoke up, still in shock from the sudden appearance of the digger. "Wh-who are you?"

"Oh, sorry, did I startle ya?" The young adult laughed, adjusting a pair of oversized blue sunglasses on his face. "The name's Napoleon Eldridge!"

"Eldridge?" Teresa mumbled to herself curiously.

"Woah, is that an Omnitrix?!" Napoleon caught sight of the CrossTrix gauntlet on Teresa's arm. "I've never seen one like that before!"

"The hell you haven't!" Isaac smacked his own Omnitrix impatiently. "These are both gauntlet types!"

"Yeah, but hers has a little spinny code wheel thing on the back." Napoleon folded his arms. "That makes it objectively cooler."

"In what way does it make it cooler?!"

"I think he has a point." The CrossTrix's dial played a shrugging animation.

"You stay out of this!" Isaac snapped.

"Wait, wait!" Teresa waved her arms out frantically. "C-come on, please don't fight!"

"Eh?" Isaac paused and raised an eyebrow. "What, do you think we're actually mad at each other?"

"Uh..." Teresa began sweating nervously, not quite sure what to make of this situation anymore. "Y-yes?"

"Alright, let me explain something to you." Isaac tsked at Teresa, grabbing Napoleon's shoulder and pulling him over next to him. "See, when two very loud and obnoxious people become friends, they have very loud and obnoxious conversations about shit that really does not matter. Hell, they don't even have to be loud and obnoxious as a prerequisite. Haven't you ever had someone you could call a 'stupid fucking dumbass moron' as part of friendly conversation?"

"I've...never really had any friends." Teresa scratched the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Well, that immediately made this conversation five times more depressing."

"Nah, there's an easy solution here." Napoleon shook his head and stepped forward, extending a hand toward Teresa. "If you need friends, then let's be friends!"

"Wh-" Teresa froze for a moment, unsure how to respond. "B-but you don't even know me! What if I'm not worth being friends with?!"

"Man, you've got no self-confidence, do ya?" Napoleon jabbed a thumb at himself. "Well, I've got news for ya! I'm the one and only Napoleon Eldridge! I'm never wrong about anything-"

"Objectively untrue." Isaac interjected.

"-But I'm especially never wrong about picking friends!" Napoleon continued, ignoring the jab. "Heck, just look at this guy!" He pointed at Isaac. "No sane man would ever trust someone like that-"

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!

"-But I decided to become friends with him anyway and we saved the universe together!" Napoleon kept talking. "So even if you're not sure about yourself, you can be sure that I'm sure about yourself! You dig?"

"K-kind of...?" Teresa replied, somewhat confused by all this.

"Then it's settled!" Napoleon declared. "As of now, we're friends!"

"For the love of God, Napoleon, you can't just go around declaring friendship with random people." Isaac rolled his eyes. "Come on, what if she eats babies or something?"

"Haven't you literally eaten babies?" Napoleon pointed out.

"That was different."

"But what if she has a good reason for eating babies too?"

"I don't eat babies!" Teresa protested. "Why would you even say something like that?!"

"Anything's possible in this wide, wacky world of ours." Isaac replied lazily. "Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow and eat a fucking baby."

"I couldn't have said it better myself!" Another new voice came from above.

Two large aliens jumped down from the treetops surrounding the three. One was covered in thick, stocky armor, making it difficult to tell what was underneath. The other had a hunched yet tall body covered with green armor and wielding an energized chain whip.

"But this time, the baby we'll be eating is you!" The green one cackled.

"So...vore?" Isaac stated flatly.

"Shut the actual fuck up."

"Wh-who are you?!" Teresa exclaimed.

"We were high-ranking officers of the infamous Obsidian Death organization." The green one hissed. "Until these fools came along and destroyed it!"

"Oh yeah, I remember you now." Napoleon snapped his fingers. "Greeny over here's called Fuviquo, and the one with the chunky armor is Verramortem."

"We didn't wreck your organization, dude." Isaac said. "Your leader launched a suicide mission on Earth to make it implode on purpose."

"I still refuse to believe you had nothing to do with that!"

"Believe whatever you want, I guess." Isaac rolled his eyes. "Doesn't change what actually happened."

"You make me angry and I am going to kill you!" Fuviquo yelled.

"Well, if we're being that blunt, I guess I'll just tell you this up front:" Isaac cracked his neck. "I'm gonna kick your ass."

"Hang on a moment, I haven't even gotten to participate in this conversation yet!" Verramortem protested.

"Alright then, what did you want to say?" Napoleon asked.

"You make me very angry and I am going to kill you a lot!"

"Figures." Isaac snorted.

"D-do you need any help here?" Teresa asked him.

"Nah." Isaac tsked. "There's only the two of them."

"That's where you're wrong, brat!" Fuviquo cackled. "Did you forget what I specialize in?"

"Yes, actually." Isaac stated flatly. "I honestly forgot you even existed until just now."

"That obnoxious attitude of yours will be your death!" Fuviquo growled. "You may have forgotten us, but we certainly haven't forgotten you! We know you can defeat larger opponents quite handily, but how will you fare..."

Fuviquo cracked his whip, summoning hundreds of brown-shelled arthropods, each about a foot long, from up beneath the ground across the entirety of Liberty Park. The sudden appearance of the horde resulted in a quite hasty evacuation of the park by those in it, leaving the large block practically empty.

"Against a horde of Dasypodidae?!" Fuviquo concluded dramatically.

"That's a good point, actually." Napoleon nodded his head. "We don't have a whole lot of crowd control options, do we?"

"Shut up and fight!" Isaac snapped, pulling up the SpecTrix and transforming into a massive blue spider-like alien with black markings.

"Well, you don't gotta be like that about it." Napoleon shrugged, striking a fighting pose as a white light suddenly consumed his body, transforming him into a brown alien resembling a mix of a bat and a crab.

"Dasypodidae are known for swarming and eating anything organic." The CrossTrix advised Teresa. "You'll want to go for Ferrarachnid for this one."

"Isn't Ferrarachnid kind of big for this?" Teresa asked.

"The park is empty thanks to those things, so there shouldn't be too much of an issue."

"Alright, I guess..."

Teresa pulled up the CrossTrix and transformed into a thirty-foot tall spider-like alien with an iron shell.

"Holy shit, that thing's huge!" Spiderfreak exclaimed. "The hell does it even do?!"

Ferrarachnid jumped into the air and curled herself into a wheel, hitting the ground roll and crushing dozens of Dasypodidae unlucky enough to be in her path.

"That'd be absolutely ludicrous if weren't fucking terrifying." Spiderfreak grunted, then turned back towards Fuviquo. "Well, back to these idiots."

The Dasypodidae had already begun to swarm towards him and Batdrill. He shot a web out from his abdomen and threw it out in a circle, trapping the first wave of arthropods in a sticky net. As the rest of the Dasypodidae began to crawl over their trapped brethren, many of them became trapped by the stickiness on the other side of the web, creating another layer of trapped Dasypodidae that had to be crawled over in order to reach their prey.

"Oh, this is just getting sad." Spiderfreak tsked. "Napoleon, heads up!"

Spiderfreak shot another layer of web across the captured bugs, trapping yet another set of Dasypodidae, before twirling his abdomen around and tossing the whole mass into the air. Batdrill flew up above it and curled his body into a drill, using the power of Swarm 1 to surround himself in purple flames before rocketing into the sphere of arthropods. Ferrarachnid rolled back up to Spiderfreak as Batdrill hit the ground nearby.

"These bugs are pretty easy to hit when they're on the surface, but a lot of them are getting away by burrowing underground." Ferrarachnid said. "What should we do?"

"Gee, good question." Spiderfreak rolled his eyes. "If only someone here could control earth." Ferrarchnid and Batdrill looked around in confusion for a good few seconds before Batdrill's ear suddenly perked up.

"Oh, right, that's me!" Batdrill said. "Sorry, I usually just use this one for the drilling thing."

Batdrill slammed his claws into the ground, creating a wave through the earth that collapsed the tunnels the Dasypodidae had burrowed into, crushing them in their own network of holes.

"Dammit, retreat!" Fuviquo hissed, cracking his whip as the few remaining Dasypodidae swiftly burrowed into the ground to escape. "These things are expensive, you know!"

"I don't see how that's our problem." Spiderfreak snorted.

"I wasn't talking to you!"

Batdrill turned around, finding Verramortem some meters away finishing up the building of a large metal tower.

"This tower is more expensive than all of your useless pets combined!" Verramortem huffed. "You should just be grateful I was able to set it up so fast!"

"Woah, you were working on that this whole time?!" Batdrill exclaimed.

"What did you think I was doing, just waiting around?!" Verramortem retorted.

"...Kinda."

"What is that thing?" Ferrarachnid asked.

"Hell if I know." Spiderfreak shrugged.

"That is the reason we came here in the first place, you dimwits!" Fuviquo yelled. "Once we have enough of these set up, we'll-"

"Don't tell them what it does, you moron!" Verramortem snapped, pressing a button on the tower's console that activated an energy shield around it. "Finish them off and let's go!"

"Fine!" Fuviquo grabbed the ends of his chain in both hands. "I'll strangle these fools to death!"

"Wait, how is that supposed to work?" Ferrarachnid looked puzzled. "Arachnids don't breathe using their throats."

"For someone who works with animals you have a really shitty understanding of how spiders work." Spiderfreak rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I'll show you a shitty-"

Fuviquo was interrupted by a sudden chop to the back of his helmet that broke through the space glass and slammed into his neck, knocking him out. As he fell to the ground in a rather unflattering manner, he revealed Christine Eldridge, whose uniform pulsed with red energy traveling through its circuitry as she pulled out a small police radio.

"I've reached the site." She confirmed to the agent on the other end of the line. "One alien neutralized, four to-"

Christine paused as she noticed the symbols on Spiderfreak and Ferrarachnid. Batdrill quickly huddled in between them to indicate he was a part of the group.

"Scratch that, one alien to go." She groaned. "Three are matrix users."

"Actually, mine is a swarm of nanobots that reconfigures my body into-" Batdrill spoke up.

"If it turns you into an alien, it's a goddamn Omnitrix!" Christine snapped, throwing her radio into one of her vest pockets. "Just don't get in my way!"

Christine leaped forward, her enhanced jumps propelling her towards Verramortem in just a few steps. She slammed into him boots-first, pinning him to the ground.

"Get off of me, you-" Verramortem snapped as his armor's motors began creaking underneath the pressure of trying to lift him up. "How are you doing this?!"

"My armor's better than yours." Christine stated bluntly.

"That's so cool!" Batdrill exclaimed.

"It's alright." Spiderfreak grunted.

"To hell with this, we already did what we came here to do!" Verramortem hissed. "Escape Procedure A!"

Verramortem's armor sprayed out a cloud of noxious smoke, catching Christine off-guard and sending her into a coughing fit. Verramortem took the chance to activate the armor's jet boots, flying out of Christine's grasp and snatching Fuviquo on his way out. He launched into a series of obscenities as he disappeared into the distance, destroying any chance of catching him.

"Why-" Christine took a moment to cough as she walked over to the group of aliens. "Why didn't any of you grab him?!"

"You told us not to get in your way, so we didn't." Spiderfreak smirked. "Touch luck, jabroni."

"I can already tell you're going to be a pain in the ass." Christine massaged her temples in frustration. "Could you at least detransform so we can talk face-to-face?"

Spiderfreak shrugged and smacked the SpecTrix symbol, reverting back to Isaac. Batdrill transformed back into Napoleon as Ferrarachnid tapped the CrossTrix, canceling her transformation.

"Hey, I recognize you." Christine scowled, pointing to Teresa. "You're that kid I ran into a few days ago!"

"Uh..." Teresa tapped her fingers together nervously. "Hello again?"

"I can't believe the absolute irresponsibility of that woman..." Christine clenched her fists together. "Using a kid for this?! The next time I see Krauze, I swear I'll-"

"H-hang on a second, it's not her fault!" Teresa protested. "I kinda...got myself into this."

"What do you mean 'kinda'?"

"I don't see the point of worrying about it." Napoleon interjected. "If anything, she's way safer now that she has an Omnitrix. Think of it like carrying around mace, but instead of capsaicin, you're spraying your attackers with...uh, aliens or something? Alright, the metaphor kinda broke down there, but-"

"I know what you mean." Christine sighed. "Look, having an Omnitrix isn't inherently dangerous, but using it to fight with absolutely zero training is. There's a reason members of the police force have to go through training before they can be sent out to deal with a situation."

"Who needs training?" Napoleon assumed a karate stance, accidentally smacking Isaac in the face with his elbow. "Just trying to make the coolest explosion you can out of a situation usually works out!"

"Napoleon, I swear to God!" Isaac snapped, shoving him away.

"Wait a minute..." Christine paused. "Napoleon, what's your last name?"

"Eldridge." Napoleon replied.

"And your age?"

"Twenty years old, why?" Napoleon tilted his head.

"Your age, your attitude..." Christine smacked her forehead. "Good Lord, you're John's kid, aren't you?"

"You know my dad?" Napoleon asked.

"Haven't talked to him in sixteen years, but yeah." Christine sighed. "He's my brother."

"Hang on a second, are you telling me you're related to Napoleon?" Isaac interjected. "But you're normal."

"In my family, that made me the odd one out." Christine grumbled. "Never got along with them very well."

"So you're Christine?" Napoleon said. "My dad talks about you sometimes, but I never really got a good idea of what you were like."

"I can imagine what he'd say about me." Christine tsked.

"Well, he said you were a stick in the mud." Napoleon replied. "'Course, he sent me to military school, so he's kind of a hypocrite about that if you ask me."

"He sent you to military school?" Christine repeated quizically.

"Yeah, but I ended up staging a coup and busting out." Napoleon nodded. "After that, I accidentally got infused with an ancient superweapon from another dimension and had to battle the guys who made the superweapon and lived on another version of Earth which wasn't actually their own Earth but a different Earth they had to move to because they accidentally destroyed their own Earth with the aforementioned superweapon but I was able to get them sorted out and then go back home and work out my own family issues."

The area went dead silent as Christine gave him an incredulous look.

"Anyway, everything worked out in the end and now I'm here with these two busting bad guys and stuff." Napoleon continued. "Cool, right?"

"I have no idea how to process any of what you just said."

"That's fair." Napoleon shrugged. "It was kind of a convoluted series of events. Anyway, I guess you could call this kind of a family reunion then, huh?"

"No." Christine scowled. "Look, we can talk later if you really want, but you and your friends shouldn't be getting involved in police business."

"Actually, if you want to get technical..." Isaac reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out a Plumber's badge while wearing a shit-eating grin. "We outrank you."

"Okay, for one thing, that is not how ranks work." Christine pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Second, how the hell are you kids Plumbers?!"

"Ben Tennyson can't be everywhere at once." Isaac replied. "Well, he can be, but he isn't, so we're what you might call the 'oh god oh fuck there's an invasion in Sector 9 and Ben is busy kicking Vilgax's ass for the fiftieth time right now' team."

"Noted." Christine grunted. "Alright, if this is in your jurisdiction, then I'm sure you must know what's going on here, right?"

"Well, sort of." Isaac scratched his chin. "We've fought those two losers before, but I ain't got a clue why they're in Salt Lake right now. You notice any weird activity around here lately?"

"Yeah, a lot, but that's a fairly broad spectrum." Christine said. "I don't know if any of it relates to this case specifically."

"Fair enough." Isaac shrugged, starting to turn around. "At any rate, I've got a business meeting I've got to get toJESUS CHRIST MORANNA A LITTLE MORE WARNING NEXT TIME!"

As Isaac had turned, he suddenly found himself in front of a young Japanese woman with dark brown hair that stood about a foot taller than him.

"Oh, hey Moranna, when did you get here?" Napoleon greeted her casually.

"She literally just walked up behind you." Christine said. "Did none of you notice that?"

"You did?" Moranna asked. "I'm getting out of practice."

"We're out in public, for God's sake." Isaac huffed. "You don't need to be stealthy all the time."

"Force of habit." Moranna shrugged. "Should I ask why exactly the Global Police are here?"

"Couple of Obsidian Death guys showed up and planted that tower over there." Napoleon jabbed a thumb at the metal construct.

"I thought the Obsidian Death disbanded after their attack on Earth five years ago."

"They did." Christine interjected. "That's part of what makes this so suspicious."

"S-sorry, but what are we talking about?" Teresa asked hesitantly. "What's the Obsidian Death?"

"Intergalactic gang." Isaac answered. "Tried to invade Earth back in 2015. Got the shit beaten out of them. Haven't been around since."

"Who's this?" Moranna asked, gesturing at Teresa.

"O-oh, um, my name's Teresa. Teresa Challice." Teresa blushed heavily as she answered, nervously tapping her index fingers together. "N-nice to meet you."

"Is she not with your group?" Christine asked.

"Nah, she was just here already when shit went down." Isaac lazily shrugged. "She was kind of helpful, I guess."

"I was?" Teresa's eyes began watering with joy.

"Wha-that's a lukewarm compliment at best, why are you so happy about it?" Isaac scowled.

"Nobody's ever told me I'm helpful before." Teresa replied, rubbing the moisture from her eyes.

"Every new detail I hear about your life is extremely disconcerting."

"Oh, I-I'm sorry!" Teresa stammered. "I-I won't talk about it, then!"

"That is not the takeaway you should be getting here!"

"Uh, dude, the time." Napoleon tapped his wrist.

"Right, right, the meeting." Isaac heaved a frustrated sigh. "Well, I'm just gonna leave you with the cop and head out. If you get arrested, send me a postcard."

"Arrested?!" Teresa exclaimed as Isaac's group began walking away. "What did I-"

"IT WAS A JOKE, GODDAMMIT!"

"Oh." Teresa hung her head for a moment before turning to look at Christine. "I-it is just a joke, right?"

"Kid, I'm not one of those cops that takes people in just to fill a quota." Christine stated. "What exactly would I be arresting you for?"

"Most people don't like me, so I just sort of assume I'm always doing something wrong." Teresa sighed.

"The annoying guy in the hoodie was right, your life is disconcerting." Christine grunted. "Look, just be safe about using that Omnitrix, okay? The EvoLock system is already screwing things up for people with just one transformation per person."

"Y-yeah, you're right." Teresa sniffed. "I've been training with my aliens before I use them for anything, but I'm probably going to screw things up anyway. I should probably find someone better to use the CrossTrix..."

"Excuse me?" The CrossTrix beeped.

"That's not what I-" Christine sighed. "Look, I need to get back to work, but it doesn't seem like these bite-sized sound clip conversations are being particularly helpful. If you want, we can meet at Dr. Krauze's house to talk about this after my shift ends."

"We don't have to do that." Teresa replied. "I-I don't want to waste your time."

"Teresa, if she's offering, she probably doesn't think it would be a waste of time." The CrossTrix pointed out. "Personally, I think it's a good idea. She seems like she has a solid head on her shoulders."

"I know, it's just..." Teresa looked up at Christine. "Why would you want to help me?"

"For one thing, helping people is literally my job." Christine stated. "For another, you've got one of the most powerful types of technology in the Milky Way sitting on your wrist, and I don't want you rushing to decisions about it haphazardly. This thing has the potential to destroy the world."

"What?" Teresa looked at the CrossTrix worriedly. "But I don't want to destroy the world!"

"I know you don't, and that's why I want you to know how to use this thing properly!" Christine replied. "You're a good kid, but you have a weak-willed personality, and that's the kind of thing that could get you into serious trouble."

"O-okay." Teresa said. "I...guess I'll see you later, then."

"Try not to get into any trouble before then." Christine gave her a small grin. "Later."

Christine returned to the squad car she had driven to the park and drove away, leaving Teresa standing alone in the park.

Inside the Raivent Enterprises building, Lucius was seated in his office, watching the clock hanging across the room impatiently. A solitary paper sat in front of him, placed face-down on his desk. Eventually, there was a slight knock on the door, followed by Svelte entering the room.

"Sir, it appears as if your guest is here."

"I see." Lucius said. "Send him in."

Svelte nodded and left the office. After a few moments, Isaac entered the room, lazily kicking the door closed behind him.

"You're late." Lucius stated.

"Yeah, by like, five minutes." Isaac rolled his eyes, taking a seat across from Lucius and folding his arms in front of him. "Let's just say something came up and leave it at that."

"It would behoove you to be more punctual for these sorts of meetings in the future." Lucius tsked. "Now..."

Lucius took the paper in front of him and flipped it right-side-up, sliding it over to Isaac.

"Let's get down to business."