Reaching Salvation: Post-Acer Part 3

The kick was simply caught before it could even get close. "Now, that isn't a polite way to greet others." Joey said, releasing the foot.

"We didn't ask for your help." Josh spat, Al walked towards Joey cautiously.

"We don't mean any trouble." The other twin said.

Joey nodded to the polite on of the two sibling. "And I mean no trouble to you as well..." The adult said. "So I take it you two need a place to stay?"

Josh looked to the side. "...Maybe."

"Hey, aren't you that guy who made that huge light sphere?" Al asked.

Erika was catching up to Joey, and went to Elena. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, that was me." Joey said, smiling as he wife went to the girl. "...Why do you ask?"

OOC: Coulda sworn Al was a guy. XP

OOC: Erika went to Elena.

OOC: Misread it, sorry. XP

Elena sat still, not reacting to Joey and Erika's appearance at all. When the woman came over to her and started speaking, she looked up, a frown on her face. "Who are you?" she asked, before shaking her head slightly. "Who am I?"

"That's what happens when you mess with the best," Tom laughed, gesturing. The earth rose up to help Heidi to her feet. He decided he'd wait for Heidi's response to Nathan. "No need to worry about that anymore, though. I'm all better."

"I'd agree, but then your ego might kill us all," Heidi told Tom matter-of-factually as she was pulled to her feet, before continuing. "That's good."

Sighing slightly, she looked over her shoulder, before turning to Nathan. "I dunno. S'pose it's time to go back to the village."

Tom personally felt like he had a debt to repay, but if Heidi wanted to go back, he didn't particularly want to split up.

"What d'you wanna do, Tombo?" Heidi asked, frowning slightly. While she missed Simon, it would probably be a good idea to stay with Tom, in case Nathan had tricked them into believing the trigger was gone, or changed the words, or something.

"Not quite sure. I want to go back to live the peaceful life, but... I don't want that peaceful life interrupted by an army coming down to kill everyone," Tom offered, caught in two minds himself.

"The three of us, versus an army. Doesn't exactly sound like a good idea," Heidi pointed out. "A few more people would be nice."

"Headin' back for reinforcements might be nice. I think the village people deserve to know what's going on too," Tom agreed. "Also, how are we gonna read what's on the hard drive? Is there still any power in this wasteland? Or a surviving computer?"

Heidi shrugged. "Shima probably had some old computers, or something. Makes sense. The Big Five had computers, too."

"They did?" Tom asked surprisingly. Not like he'd seen them. "Probably that Silence guy powering them."

"I don't know if they had them during our tournament. At least, I didn't see any...but where do you think we got the hard drive from? I'm sure that the kids didn't install a computer once the Big Five had died," Heidi answered. "Whatever happened to that guy, anyway? Is he still powering the tower, or is he dead? 'Cuz that tower certainly had electric."

Tom facepalmed at his own stupidity.

"I was only thinking in terms of the tournament. And I haven't a clue, maybe they have someone else with that power. After all these years, they probably turned adult power, so they can do his job. If they were somewhere else in that tower though, they're probably dead now."

"Oh yeah. Everyone's dead," Heidi sighed, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm kind of an idiot."

"You're just being hard on yourself again," Tom replied after a short pause. He wasn't sure how to comfort her.

"Can it, Tombo, I'm grumpy now," Heidi grumbled, having reminded herself that she was a murderer. It was hard to stay happy when she'd broken such a large social taboo.

"My name is Erika. And your Elena, remember?" The woman replied.

"Hey, Heidi. It's not like you just go around killing everyone you see. If you kill someone who is aiming to murder you, murder all your friends, that just makes sense. It ain't nice, but it's necessary."