It was like stepping into a mirror version of Eliza's lab, only it wasn't exactly Eliza's lab. It was different, as if the space wasn't Eliza's. The machine wasn't there, only the portal that she'd opened up from the other side. They'd prepared for that. Junior would effectively be their machine from now on, once he came through to this side.

The lower levels of this school were dark and abandoned. The only light cast was from the portal and in the distance they heard water dripping. Either something violent had taken place here or years of vagrants, rummaging and time had taken it's tole on the school. The floor, though they were underground, seemed to tilt a little. Filing cabinets and equipment were turned over, having been pushed to one side of the room. Perhaps by what had caused the floor to shift as it had. Where they were it was dry, but there was standing water in the corner of the room near the door.

One thing was certain, no one had lived here in a very, very long time.



There was an almost violent sensation of being pulled forward, of being stretched while in two places at once. Waya felt thin in the middle while the front half of her seemed to arrive at it's destination while the other half was still in Eliza's lab. Both sections seemed to slingshot back together while the first part stayed stationary. Like a cartoon character's body catching up with itself. When her back half reunited with her font half, it pushed her forward, hard into George, who knew what to expect.

George had turned around not to collide with Waya, but to catch her. She was a little more powerful in her sling shot action however, and she pushed him back a few steps with a surprised noise from the large robot. Still, when she realized what was happening, she could tell she was in his arms, braced against his chest... Right up until he let her go. "Are you alright?" he asked, carefully moving away, towards the portal to catch the next person who came through.

Waya felt like all the air had been leached from her body, but that might have been because she collided into George and he caught her. She nodded, trying to catch her breath. "Yeah... I'm ok... Don't let Rhydian..." She stopped when she noticed the other side. She saw the destruction, the mess of rot and time. "What happened here?" She asked no one in particular.

Rhydian felt as if he would vomit when he rematerialized. He steadied himself quickly and braced himself before he'd fall over. He covered his mouth quickly and swallowed hard, trying to keep it down. "We should really warn them about the discomfort..." His eyebrows knitted together as he finally took in their surroundings.

The first thing he probably saw was George bracing Rhydian with a large robotic hand, trying to keep him steady after the journey. He was going to try and do it to all the people who stepped through. "Perhaps," he spoke as he made sure the others weren't about to fall over "this would be an opportune time to test the radios."

Unfortunately Penelope didn't wait long enough for George to catch her, she shot through in a jump and crashed into Rhydian's back, sandwiching him against George with a loud 'Oof!"

Waya growled, seeing Penelope ignoring orders again. "You were supposed to wait." She told her.

George carefully dragged Penelope close to him, out of the way of more people who would be coming through in a couple of seconds. He held her there, keeping her steady by practically pinning her to his side so she wouldn't fall over. "Rhydian," George said, trying to move him carefully out of the way as well, but trusting he wouldn't topple by now "Can you see if the systems in the mansion still live? Or are they too damaged?"

"I'll need to find a console..." Rhydian stated, looking around the room. He was still a bit disoriented, but he could stand now at least. He reached up and rubbed the back of his head as he looked about. "If this is laid out exactly like our lab, then there should be a console..." He muttered as he approached the place on the wall where there should've been one. He ran his hands along the wall, trying to find the little depression that would trigger it to open. "...right about here..."

"I thought it was a suggestion." Penelope said, "Besides....he went in." she cocked her head toward Rhydian. She smelled the air and looked around, letting George stabilize her. "This place looks like ass."

Waya ignored Penelope. Rhydian's going through with her had been gesture of chivalry. Something romantic he knew Waya wouldn't forget. "Tell the others they're clear to come through, George. Though I don't know if it's worth it. The place looks abandoned and so far I can't sense any signs of life."

George nodded, cocking his head to once side and silently speaking into something the others couldn't see. He wondered what had happened here... the place had not seen life in quite some time... Which troubled George. Surely the X-men would have returned here.

Rhydian scrunched up his face a little when his fingers did not find a panel. He sighed deeply and placed his hand flat against the wall. So the panel wasn't exactly where it was in their dimension, but that didn't mean it wasn't somewhere in here. He started to walk around the room, keeping his hand flat on the wall, feeling for any sort of little finger-hold that would indicate the console's access panel. He grimaced when he stepped into the cold, stagnant water that seemed to pool around the walls. It wasn't a problem to get a little wet, but standing water tended to have a sort of stink that lingered.

Eliza stumbled through the portal next, letting out a groan and half-flopping over onto George. "Ohhhh that did not feel good." she whispered, eyes closed as she tried to keep herself steady "But... we're here." She grinned to herself, looking blearily around the room they were in. "Oh..." she said, realizing they were in her lab, or rather, what wasn't her lab. "This place is a dump."

"Oh gross..." Pen said, watching Rhydian just go for it and walk into the water of...who knows what. That could be bile for all she knew. "I just stitched up this uniform. Not going in there." she stated.

"You are." Waya told her. "We all are. Once Junior and Maribel get here we'll break up into teams and take a look around the place. No one goes off alone."

Just then, as if on cue, Maribel hopped into view. She looked tense, but relaxed when she saw everyone was just fine. Ignoring the room, she turned to wait for Junior to enter.

"How are you feeling Maribel?" George asked, carefully attempting to steady the girl in case she was about to collapse over. Everyone else had been rather dizzy, then again Maribel was a little bit... different... physically.

Rhydian groaned as he wandered all the way about the room. His feet sloshed with each step. "There's not a console anywhere along the wall... I don't get it. The lab has always had consoles."

Maribel jumped a little when George touched her. She turned and looked at him with a nervous smile and nod. She felt a little...wriggly, but nothing that caused her to feel nauseous. Her concern stayed with Junior... and that he hadn't come through yet.

"Junior was right behind you right?" Waya asked, also noticing he hadn't come through yet.

Maribel looked at Waya and nodded, then went back to the portal. She looked devastated and worried.

"His genetic makeup may be having difficulty with this new world." George said in a matter of fact way.

"He's used to controlling the energy I used to get over to here." Eliza said with a small nod, looking over towards Rhydian as he went around the wall "He'll be fine. He's practically part of the machine by now. He'll be fine."

"But shouldn't he be through by now?" Waya asked. "We can't get back without him..."

"We're going to have to move into the hallway. There's no consoles in here to tap into. Weird as that sounds... Whoever heard of a lab without a computer console?" Rhydian said as he moved back to the group. "What's the hold up?"

"Junior hasn't come through yet..." Penelope told Rhydian, waiting nervously with the rest of the group.

"Should someone go back and see what the hold up is?" Waya asked. "Of if someone goes through while he's coming through will we barbecue each other?

"Or they could literally become him." Eliza said "Or nothing could happen. This is completely unattempted science here guys..." She bit her lip, moving towards the portal carefully "I could... try and find him?"

Junior was suddenly flung from the portal. He collided with Eliza far more violently than anyone else who'd come through. His skin was so deep burgundy that it was almost black and his hair was stark white. He was shaking, literally vibrating with energy. He drug Liz to the ground with the force of their impact.

Maribel gasped and went to Junior and Eliza's aid. She hesitated touching him for only a moment before grabbing his arm to help him off of poor Eliza.

Junior's skin was hot, burning even. Thankfully Maribel's carapace was durable enough to protect her hands. "OFFOFFOFF!" Junior cried, pulling away from Maribel, afraid of hurting her. Where he'd knocked Liz into the water he was wet and visibly steaming. "Shit... oh god... it's too much. I absorbed too much!"
(wait for liz)

Eliza let out a scream of surprise as Junior suddenly collided with him, before the scream turned into pain as he dragged her to the floor. When he pulled away she jerked out from the water, letting out another scream of pain and shock. Junior had been burning hot when he'd slammed into her, and there were marks on her hands and face to prove it. She was in pure panic right now, the sudden pain, and the reaction to the water might just send her into shock.

"What's wrong!?" Waya asked Junior, watching him freak out.

"I have to purge!" Junior exclaimed. "I'm gonna... I feel like I'm gonna explode!" He doubled over as if trying to hold it all in. If it released on it's own he'd hurt everyone and probably kill George.

Penelope grabbed Eliza and pulled her out of the murky water and out of the way. "Fuck sake, Junior!" she snapped at him, though it really did no good. She didn't know how she COULD help anyway.

Eliza struggled for a second in Penelope's grip, then gasped heavily and just let the girl drag her out of the water. The burns on one side of her face and her hands were pretty bad, nothing that she'd need emergency medical treatment for, but she was cringing and curling up in a ball.

"Junior," George said quickly, once seeing Eliza was safe "You can attempt to channel energy into me. It may fry my circuits but the others will be safe."

"Why don't you dump him in the shadow realm?" Rhydian suggested to Waya, then hunkered down beside Eliza. "You ok?"

"Perfect." Waya told Rhydian. "He can't kill anyone that way." She pointed directly at Junior. "DON'T Move from where I put you. Not one step. I'll loose you." She swiped her hand over Junior, making him vanish into the shadow realm.

"Stand up! You're fine!" Penelope snapped at Eliza. "Come off it!"

"Ah! Ah! Careful!" Eliza whimpered as she felt her burnt skin being pulled and tugged from Penelope's struggles to get her up "It hurts dammit."

"Pen calm down, leave her al-" Waya suddenly stopped talking, as if she could feel something the others couldn't sense. "George, help Liz, Pen, just shut up. I'm gonna go check on Junior." She looked at Rhydian, silently telling him to keep this fiasco together while she was gone. She vanished in a cloud of shadow, leaving him in charge.

"Not five minutes into this mission and already our team is a wreck. Ridiculous." Penelope scoffed, walked near the edge of the water. She frowned and tested her boot. It was waterproof. She stepped into the water and began walking forward. She wouldn't go far, but damnit this humidity was making her hair frizz already.

Eliza was regretting not losing Penelope in the void of space and time as George knelt down beside her. She hissed as he gently touched her hands, carefully turning them around and examining them. He pulled out a small burn salve kit from a compartment and began to treat her wounds, causing little hisses to come from Eliza.

"Pen hold up!" Rhydian shouted and sloshed over to her. George was tending to Eliza. "No one should go off alone." He explained himself as he started to accompany her.

"Don't worry... I'm not going anywhere. I just want to go someplace less...damp. This is going to mess my hair up." Penelope said, touching the top of her head, "And we can't have that."

"We need to find a console anyway. Might as well do it now. It's too dark in here. If we can find some way of turning the lights on, it'll be better for everyone." Rhydian explained.

"George!" Penelope shouted, "Can we get some light please?!" The guy was like a swiss army knife... surely he had a spotlight or lamp or... SOMETHING.

"Penelope. I am busy being a better human being than you. Please wait a few moments." George said gently in reply, carefully wrapping a few of Eliza's fingers in a cover. The burns would heal faster if left open to the air, but they would also hurt more at the moment.

There was a heavy thump and splash in the dark corner at the far end of the room. "Shit..." It was Waya and Junior proved to be too heavy for her. "He's out." She said, trying to keep him from sagging into the water. Unlike the rest of them his suit was only a pair of stylized shorts. "Someone give me a hand. Mari, you think you can weave us up something to keep him out of the water?"

Maribel gasped at the sight of Junior. She nodded to Waya and flung her hands up. Webbing hit the ceiling and after some construction, began wrapping Junior up. She to climbed into the web and took responsibility for her boyfriend.

"f there isn't any consoles in here, surely there should be something outside." Rhydian rationalized, hoping he wasn't grasping at straws. For all he knew, there weren't any consoles anywhere here. They could be centuries into a futuristic timeline where things of that manner are no longer used, and this building nothing more than an empty shell of ruin.

"He should be ok..." Waya said, leaving Mari to see to Junior. "Might be safer to stay down here with him while he's out though. You think you can do that?" She looked at Mari, trusting her to protect Junior while the others went on. "I could have Liz stay with you." Liz was hurt, but still could be effective backup if Mari needed.

Maribel shook her head and lifted her hands 'We will be fine.' Eliza was a key player on their team. She made this entire venture possible and would do more good with the group than hanging back in this web with her and Junior. Mari was less experienced. She understood the need to hang back with Junior.

"Are you sure?" Waya asked her seriously. Liz was a key player, but Junior was integral. Without him they were NOT getting back. "You'll have to protect him on your own if something happens." She wasn't leaving Mari behind because she was expendable. She was leaving Mari behind to protect their way home.

Maribel suddenly felt insecure when Waya second guessed her. 'Unless you want her to stay, I understand.'

"I think I should have some say in this." Eliza said, raising a slightly bandaged hand to interrupt the conversation being had about her. "Junior just took in a load of energy that is uncommon in our natural world. When he wakes up, he might be... a little overwhelmed. I would like to stay."

George went over to Rhydian, rubbing his chin slightly as he looked for a panel... then pushed a fist suddenly and rapidly through one wall. He froze like that, then pulled back his hand, a bundle of wires in his plastic fist. "Follow the wires." he said, ignoring the fact he'd punched through a wall.

"Thank you, George." Rhydian said, blinking a couple of times. "Can you see them through the wall, or do we have to pull apart the wall to follow them?"

Penelope sighed, "Can we get a little light on the subject too, George?"

Waya nodded to Liz. Don't think it's because I don't think you can handle it. She told Mari telepathically, no one needed to hear what she wanted Mari to know. I know you'd protect Junior with everything you've got. She paced a hand on Maribel's shoulder. And sometimes that's better than experience. She gave it a pat and stood, leaving Liz and Mari to deal with Junior. She joined Rhydian and the others. She decided while she was having these private little conversations, to talk to Rhydian while she was at it.
I can't access the shadow realm. She told him. Junior let off too much energy and with it being light based, it needs time to heal. We're blocked off from our supplies for a while... and I don't know what I'll find when I go back in.

George sighed, pulling off his left hand and throwing it suddenly to Penelope. His palm lit up into a pair of bright torch, becoming the perfect lantern for her. The rest of him in the meantime was casually starting to pull wires from the wall, trying to trace them along back to their source as he said "I'm doing this the hard way I'm afraid."

Penelope managed to catch his hand and held it up. "Aren't we trying to find your parents... not rewire the place?" She didn't seem to understand the importance of what they were doing. She held up the hand and looked down the room to the exit. "I'm getting out of this water."

Rhydian looked at Waya and couldn't help but smile. He held his hand out to her, "I think we'll be alright for now. Once we get out of the lab, hopefully we'll find something a bit more... useful?" He offered, wondering if there'd be anything outside that wasn't as dilapidated as the lab contents.

Waya nodded to Rhydian. "Penelope give George back his hand." She cupped her hands and made a rat, then moved to where George was yanking out the wires. "This will be easier." She said and made the rat jump into the wall where he was working. "I can follow the wires like this and get us to a control room without having to demolish anything else."

"Can you please not make us regret bringing you along?" Eliza groaned as she looked over at Penelope. She'd hardly been useful and complained the entire time she was here. Eliza walked over towards Junior and Maribel, trying to look and see if Junior was alright. He was rather vital to this operation after all.

"The campus is deserted." George told Rhydian as the rat scampered along to find the panel "But from what I can see the main computers are still here. We should be able to find records."

Penelope rolled her eyes and then looked at Eliza, "...says the girl who is taking a time out not five minutes into this mission. Yeah okeay." Naturally, Penelope was...well...she could be quite the bitch when she was annoyed. Having people criticize her was no improvement.

"The next person who has something unhelpful to say is taking a time out in the shadow realm." Waya told them. "This arguing isn't helping anyone."

"Has anyone tried the lightswitch?" Eliza said, a little aggressive right now because of all the pain.

"Gimme a minute, Liz..." Junior said softly in Maribel's hammock. "I'll be you're light switch..." His eyes were closed though, but he smiled, making a joke. If he could joke he would be alright.

"There's not lightswitch. However they used to light this place, it wasn't with a console or switch from inside the room." Rhydian replied. He'd been all around the walls, there wasn't a single thing on this side of them. That could only mean that the lights and everything else was activated from the other side of the door, on your way inside.

Penelope held up George's hand, which worked as a high beam flashlight. "Can we just get the bloody hell out of here?!" she asked and marched through the water, towards the door.

"Find a computer, get information," George said with a shake of his head, moving after Waya as they looked for the wires to get to something "Then we'll know what's waiting out here for us. And we might find records of the X-men arriving if we're lucky."

"That's what we're trying to do, Pen." Waya told her. If she did less complaining and more paying attention she might know that. The group traveled deeper into the dilapidated lower levels.

Maribel leaned over him when he stirred. He seemed to be coming around and she was so thankful. Her hand grabbed his and gave a squeeze, letting him know she was there.

"I'm ok..." Junior told Mari, not wanting her to worry. "Just didn't expect all that power... I need my dump box..." Waya had spares in her cache, but with the device he was wearing, there was another. He just couldn't get to it right now. It was full of excess energy for just this occasion.

"You'll have it in a bit. I thought you released in the shadow realm?" Eliza said from where she was standing. She felt wet and burnt at the same time, which was not a good sensation.

"I did..." Junior said. "But I charged a couple of the boxes just in case... I didn't want something like this to happen and not have any energy to absorb after... Is Waya ok? I shot of a lot..." Waya had seemed perfectly fine when she came back with him, but he didn't know that.

"She looked fine... but you know Waya." Eliza pointed out with a little sigh, giving a shrug and rubbing her head with an unburnt hand "I really hate I got injured so quickly into this mission..."

Maribel let them speak. She was content to listen for now. Glancing around, there wasn't much to see really, but at least nothing was attacking.

"I'm sorry, Liz..." Junior told her. "I don't usually get that hot unless I'm about to go... I didn't mean to burn you."

"I know you didn't, I know you didn't." Eliza said with a soft sigh, rubbing her face and wincing slightly "Just... don't be shocked if flinch a few times when you come in for a hug."

Junior smiled. "How about a big ole' smooch instead?"

Mari was glad Junior and Eliza were beginning to feel better,though she was a bit disappointed they all had to stay back.

"Eh, later, later," Eliza said with a wave of her hand "It sounds like you're feeling a bit better now though... That's good."

"Can I have my box now?" Junior asked. "Knowing them the others found a computer or something that's nearly dead and they need some juice." Waya had his other boxes. With a couple wires they were just like big super charged car batteries. Still, he liked having his nose in things when it was his energy they were dealing with.

Maribel placed her hand on Junior's arm, then signed to him 'You should wait until you are feeling better'.

"It will make me feel better, baby..." Junior told her. "It's because I don't have any energy that I feel like this."

Maribel nodded, understanding now. She looked at Eliza for an answer. Mari would have to get it for him since he was glued at the moment.

"Get him one," Eliza said with a little nod "A small one if possible. We need him feeling better, not tanked up on happy juice."

Mari nodded and grabbed the box for Junior.

"Thank you, baby..." Junior said. He placed his hands on what were effectively the positive and negative prongs of the box and dropped his head back as his hands began to glow. "Ohh yeah... that's nice..."

"Don't enjoy yourself too much." Eliza said with a small laugh and a little shake of her head "I'm still in the room after all."

Something moved by Eliza's leg as they waited for Junior to recover. It didn't feel rough or smooth, but there was a disturbance in the water, like a weak current caused by a water jet in a hot tub. It wasn't that of course, but it sort of felt like it. Just a soft little jet of water against her leg.

"Something touched me." Eliza said as she flinched back from the source of that little jet of water. It wasn't the calmest and most controlled response, but she had been injured already. her nerves were a little on edge.

Maribel and Junior were several feet above the water, hanging from a web she had made. She climbed across the wall, using her hands and descended on some twines of web near Eliza. She wasn't sure if Eliza really felt anything or not, but figured she might be more comfortable with she and Junior up in the web. She offered her hand.

"Maybe you should come up with us." Junior suggested. "Who knows what's living down there."

Something disturbed the water beside Eliza again. This time it made a slosh in the water.

"Oh jesus." Eliza whispered, flailing her hands out and finding the webbing there. She grabbed hold without a thought and began to haul herself up off the floor. "There shouldn't be ANYTHING living down here." Eliza said as she climbed.

Maribel had to help her. Otherwise, Eliza would just get stuck and tangled. The webbing was quite sticky afterall. When she was high up with Junior and safe, Mari moved to the edge and descended on a few threads of web, nearing the water, trying to see what it had been.

As Maribel peered into the dark water, a shape began to emerge, not from it, but formed by it. From the murky water appeared a hand. In it floated bits of debris and sediment. It reached slowly for Maribel, extending as far as it's forearm.

Mari gasped and hesitated, but didn't climb back up. She still felt a bit out of reach from the thing and on reflex, the poison-filled fangs from her mouth extended as she puled back her lips.

"Mari..." Junior sounded worried. "Maybe you should come back."

The being that reached out to her was made of water. Maribel's abilities weren't exactly designed to deal with something like this. The appendage began to take on more human definition. The finger developed into five distinct digits, they took on the appearance of knuckle and even the shape of fingernails.

He didn't have to tell her twice. Mari reared back and joined he and Eliza in the web.

There was a moment, a long moment, where Eliza didn't say anything at all. But as she gazed down at the water, trying to make out what it was... she couldn't trust it, she couldn't believe it, but she had to say... "Dad?"

Whatever it was didn't answer back, but a face appeared out of the water and it looked very much like her father.

"D-dad?" Eliza slipped a little bit on the web and gazing down at the face "Dad it's me... Eliza?" Was this her father? Was it... someone else? Someone from this world?

"Eliza be careful." Junior told her. "We don't know if it's our Tom or not."

"Ooooooom..." The face in the water said, slowly, as if trying to remember who he was. The face took on more definition as the water vibrated with is voice. Eyelashes, hair, beard. It began to rise up out of the water and soon was a head and shoulders, looking up at Eliza.

"Dad..." Eliza was trying to slip down, but the sticky web was making it difficult. She wriggled slightly, trying to get lower "It's your daughter..."

"Liz stop!" Junior was better at navigating Mari's webs. He secured his box to the back of the device he was wearing and grabbed Eliza's belt from behind. "You don't know if that's him or not!"

The thing that looked more and more like Tom began to take shape, rising out of the murky water. He was murky too and the water began to receed as he reconstituted his body.

Maribel placed a hand on Eliza's shoulder. She was stuck to the web.

At least Liz couldn't get any further, Junior Was happy for that at least.

The person who had called himself "Oooom" Became more defined, taller. He stood and as the water receded, his bare feet stood on the floor and he looked up at them in their web. He was humanoid, save one missing arm. There was no more water so that part of his shoulder and torso were just smooth, as he'd chosen which appendage to go without. He was still murky and filthy, but his heat tilted at the odd collection of people above him in the spiderweb. Slowly his body went from murky dirty water, to filthy soiled skin. He was balding, (Eliza's father was not) and his blond hair was turning white. His beard had some color to it but it was patchy and unhealthy looking. His skin was a sallow almost rotting flesh kind of green, but that might just be for the things probably growing in his water. His eyes were the same ocean blue that Tom's eyes should have been. Most disturbing of all perhaps was the fact that he was naked. He didn't have enough water to make a whole left arm, much less conceal his nudity.

Slime and muck concealed... certain parts, but it was still a disturbing sight to see. "D-dad?" she asked, awkward, uncertain if this was her father or... someone else. Something else. "Are you okay? What happened? You look... sick..."

"D... dad?" He asked, his voice sounding thick and slimy. "Rex..." He said and with a hand that was much quicker than she expected, he grabbed her wrist. "Rex is it..." He looked frantic, wild even for a moment. His eyes were almost frantic. "Is it you?" He didn't seem to be able to tell the difference and his grip was vice-like on her wrist.

Eliza shuddered at the name. "I'm..." she swallowed, trying to think quickly "We're from another place... Another dimension... I'm your daughter in that world. I've... met Rex." She shuddered at his hold, it felt clammy and mouldy at the same time, and the burn was stinging underneath the bandage George had put on it "I'm sorry. I'm not Rex... But why are you down here? What's going on?"

He didn't seem to hear a word she said. "Oh Rex..." Tears rolled down his cheeks but absorbed into his skin before they reached his jaw. "Oh I thought I lost you... Your mother... I'm so glad you're safe... My boy... my beautiful little boy..." He was pulling on her arm, trying to pull her into his. His grip was hard and unrelenting.

"Let go of her." Junior said, hating that this version of Tom confused her with her fucked up half brother. He moved through Mari's webs, carefully, using the cross joints that were less sticky. He was more accustomed to moving through them without getting stuck. Energy filled the palm of his hand. "Let go of her or I'll evaporate your other arm."

"Dad... Dad let go... I'm stuck, you'll hurt me if you keep pulling." best Eliza played along for now "Where are the others? What's going on?" It felt horrible seeing her father like this, seeing his distorted body and twisted features. This wasn't him... this was an imitation, a bad copy... But it was a him from another world.

He seemed to ignore both of them, only frantic to have his son in his arms. As he held her, blubbering incoherently about how he missed Rex, how sorry he was about "How things happened" and other random events that made no sense, his shoulder began to gradually take shape. That was fine, but Eliza's arm began to feel... strange. He was sucking the water out of her body, unwittingly in order to reconstitute his own.

Maribel's instincts were taking over a bit and she clambered down. Her hands slathered webbing all over Eliza's back and she reared up towards the ceiling, yanking her backwards.

Mari yanked Eliza back, but she drew Tom with her, jerking him off the floor because he was holding onto her too tightly.

Eliza let out a yelp as she was lifted off the floor, the pain of the burns being gripped so tight, then supporting another person from the injured arm... It was incredible. But she was also aware of something else... something that felt horrible deep inside, but she couldn't tell what it was entirely. "Dad..." she said, trying to carefully shrink her arm down, make it smaller so he would lose his grip "Dad let go... You're hurting me..."

Instead of using his powers Junior gave this Tom a good old fashioned right cross. "Let her go!"

The combined force of Junior's punch and Eliza's manipulation of her arm was enough to knock Tom loose. He let go and staggered back, but part of his face was left on Junior's hand.

"Does anyone have any water?" Eliza began to search herself, wondering if she had her canteen on her right now. The only reason this version of her father was dangerous was because he was out of water. If they gave him enough to turn back, maybe they could get some sense from him.

Maribel tugged Eliza away from her Father. They should really call for the others.

"Eeuuuhhheeehhhauuuhhh..." Junior said, shaking this Tom's face off his hand with a shudder. "Here." He said, assuming Liz was the one who needed it. He produced a bottle one of the many pockets in his shorts.

"Dad." Eliza unscrewed the bottle, tossing it down towards the figure of her father below them, and quickly following it up with a water bottle of her own "Here... Water. You need it..." She huffed softly, taking a deep breath and turning to Maribel as she pulled her away "Thank you..."

Tom grabbed both bottles and rather than unscrewing the caps, he bit into the first one as if it were a ripe apple. He tore threw the plastic and water spewed, but wherever it landed on his skin, he absorbed it immediatly.

"Shit this isn't going well..." Eliza muttered before looking to Maribel "Do you have your water on you? If we can turn him back normal... he might make some sense."

Mari nodded and took her water canteen from her hip as Junior had. She handed it to Eliza.

Eliza nodded in thanks, throwing the bottle straight to the watery figure below again.

Tom bit into Mari's canteen too, absorbing the water. "More..." he begged, sounding starved. "More..."

Maribel looked at Junior and signed, 'Shouldn't we get the others?'

"Probably." Junior said. "Then again, we might not want to bring in more targets for him to suck dry. Liz, are you ok?"

"I'm fine. He's sick." Eliza pointed at the figure of Tom as he drained all three canteens "Mari, I think you should get the others, tell them to bring their water. We should have enough." Hopefully...

"That's a good idea." Junior said. "You can use the ceiling and not have to get near him. We'll be fine."
(assuming she can spidey crawl right?)

Maribel nodded and began crawling along the wall, then the ceiling, down the hall towards where the others were.

"Dad..." Eliza said gently, watching the faint figure of her father as he absorbed the water "Are you feeling better? Do you want to sit down?"

He was panting, looking almost insane. "More." He told her. "I need more..."

"There'll be more in a bit," Eliza said, looking worried "Don't worry. Things will be alright."

Just then Maribel arrived, leading the others.

Waya halted in the doorway, seeing Tom, not at all as she had known him. "He's dehydrated..." She said, but that was obvious.

"A bit weird...given who he is." Rhydian stated as he looked at the man.

"Guys, he's... he needs water." Eliza called out to the others as they stepped in "He kinda started draining me when he touched me... So just give any water canteens you can. He'll heal himself up and be alright in a bit." Probably. Maybe.

"Or he could kill every one of us in a heart beat..." Waya said.

Tom turned towards Waya. "More..." He begged, sounding hungry. "I need more..."

"If he wanted to kill us he would." Eliza pointed out, almost snapping at Waya as her eyes never left the figure of her father "Just give him some water so he can heal."

"So?" Penelope asked, "Heal for how long... just let the guy die, Liz... Really." She wasn't being heartless, but rather...humane.



"Penelope has a point, Liz..." Waya said. "He's not your dad and there's nothing here for him to live for... it's nuclear winter up there..."

"The survival of this man is the most important thing at the current moment." George said flatly. He looked down at Penelope "You saw what it was like out there. Did you see water? Did you see plants?" He raised a hand and pointed at the figure of Tom. Tom was slimy, covered in algae and strange green slime "I see both. I see life. The survival of this man is the only chance this world ever has of recovering." It would be a long shot, but better than killing possibly the last living person around.

Eliza seemed to be glaring down the others, her expression furious. She was not going to go through all that trouble, make a portal to another world and break physics, just to be told to kill her own father. She was specially glaring down at Waya.

Waya looked away from Liz. She knew how heartless it had sounded. She sighed and reached into her cashe. She pulled out half of their supply of water and began pouring it out on the floor.

"You can't seriously think he could fix out there, do you?" Penelope asked him. "I'm sure you can calculate the odds of that happening. I don't know... maybe.. we should just... umm....it doesn't seem right to leave him here alone to suffer."

"Tom's powers were... Are... hard to explain." Junior said. "He might not be able to completely reverse nuclear winter, but he might be able to... I dunno, get the ball rolling."

Tom lunged at the water Waya provided them and began reconstituting his body immediate. He drank most of it, but some he opened and dumped out, calling it to him, leaving dry floor in it's wake as it flowed toward him, absorbing into his body.

"Compared to what is waiting out there," George spoke softly to Penelope, trying not to antagonize Tom "We are looking at a veritable garden. As much as you say he is suffering... This man might be the only hope this world has."

Penelope didn't really agree with him. She understood what George was getting at...but leaving Tom here alone to somehow restore Earth? That was absurd. For once however, she kept her mouth shut.

Waya moved through the group, skirting the edges till she reached Liz. "What do you think we should do?" She asked her.

"We can't take him back with us." Liz said softly to Waya, eyeing her carefully as she got closer to Tom "At the very least we can give him enough water to survive." She watched him as he drank, concern deep in her face "I don't think his mind could ever recover... but I want to give him a fighting chance."

"You know, for as smart as you are... this is really stupid." Penelope said without remorse.

"He can fill in the gaps from the datafiles." Rhydian stated and took his bottle from his pack. He tossed it to Tom eagerly. He was rather intrigued by the fact the man seems to have survived while all else on the planet were destroyed. "Besides, it isn't as if we're going to use them anyway."

"Fill in the gaps... look at him. He probably has been alone for ages! He's probably nuts." Pen said.

"Penelope. Be quiet." George told her softly "Not everyone is as cruel as you are. Let the others decide his fate... It is not your place to say what to do, or mine."

"And why is it theirs?" Penelope asked him.

"Because." Junior said. "It just is. You didn't even know Tom. If this was Dad they'd be asking us what to do."

"Can we dial this dimension again and send more water through from the other side?" Waya asked Liz.

"Since the water stayed in our containers the moment we got here, we should be able to transport water through." Eliza said with a nod to Waya.

"The data just stops. He would've been around when it did. Ages or not, he's the only link we have to what happened here." Rhydian explained for Penelope. "In case this were to happen in our world, we need to know how, so we could prevent it."

"Really? There is nothing up there! I think nuclear fallout to be a good explanation. Sticking around here is just a waste of time." Penelope said impatiently.

"Then that's what we'll do." Waya said. "We can't take him back so we'll just send him water. It's the best we can do." She turned her attention to Junior. "Can you power that machine yet?"

Junior was just about to counter Pen again when Waya interrupted him. "Yeah, I guess. If Liz says I can."

"Yes. Lets... head out... and give him some water. It'll be... something." Eliza said with a little nod and a sigh. It would be... something.

Junior turned his back to Liz so she could activate the machine.

"Well this was a good waste of time." Penelope said, walking over to the portal, waiting with her arms crossed. This was taking far too long.

Eliza reached out, activating the machine and ripping the portal open. This one didn't open with a hum though; it felt more like a sharp squeal, hissing the portal into existence. She looked around towards her father... or the person who might have been her father, in some other realm. "You... stay safe."

Rhydian truthfully, wanted to stay and learn what they could from Tom. At least help him out a bit more, but there really was no reason in staying if this wasn't where the others had come.

Beside Maribele Junior groaned, feeling the energy pulse through him. "I'm gonna need a nap after this..." He said.

"Alright, by twos." Waya said. "Lets get this over with."

Penelope stepped up to the plate and waited for anyone to join her.
Rhydian would go with Waya...Eliza and George...Junior and Maribel. Oh well. She looked at the glowing portal in front of her and went through it.

George had jut been about to step up with Penelope when she just walked through by herself. His lack of robotic rolling eyes annoyed him sometimes, because he wished to silently roll them at her. He looked around, held onto Eliza's hand just to make sure they both arrived safely, and walked through after Penelope.

Rhydian looked to Waya and held out his hand to her. "Shall we?"

Waya nodded to Rhydian but paused noticing Junior's intent to go through with Mari. "Are you sure you want to go through together?" She asked. "Last time you came through late."

"I know what to expect this time." Junior said. "We'll be ok."

Mari took Junior's hand and then gave Waya a thumbs up.

"Be careful, man." Rhydian told him. He wouldn't admit it, but he had gotten scared when Junior was late coming through. Scared that he had lost his best friend.

Best friend. It was nice that he and Junior could call each other that again. "You just make sure someone is ready on the other side with a dump box. Don't want Waya to drop me in the shadow realm again. That place is creepy. No offense, Way."

"None taken." Waya said. "I'll have your box ready." She took Rhydian's hand, ready to go through.

Rhydian gave her hand a small squeeze as they stepped through the portal.

Maribel held onto Junior's hand and glanced back at the weird melty man in the water. She turned back forward again, then glance at Junior. Releasing his hand, she asked, 'Can we go together?'

"Yeah." Junior told her. "Just you might need to get away from me when we reach the other side."

She nodded and took his hand again as they walked up to the portal. Maribel gave his hand a squeeze and stepped through with him.