2017-07-19 - Alien Wars - A Mojo Production

In another reality, an overweight blob of a being is sitting in a hoverchair as a four armed woman in silver armor stands next to his chair. Multiple monitors surround the room and the blob snorts and throws his remote against the wall. "Spiral! Ratings are down, down down! I'm gonna turn you into a can opener if you don't find me some new talent!" The six armed woman known as Spiral inclines her head. "Perhaps I have an idea, Lord Mojo." She dances and spins in a circle as an aura surrounds her just before she vanishes."

After spending all day at the beach with Gia. It wasn't until the sun was going down, that he began packing the car with the gear he had brought for their beach date. Now that the weather is getting cooler, he had changed back into his sweat pants and wifebeater as he loads up Gia's stuff in the trunk so she'd have more room on the seat. He couldn't speak for her, but he'd had a blast today. Especially the part when Gia was afraid to swim in the ocean and clung to him like a monkey to a tree. He chuckles briefly at the thought before he peeks out from the trunk area. "Hey, Gia. You almost ready? It's gonna get cold once the sun is down fully."

Once back out of the water, Gia seemed to regain her confidence, and was once again that brash, bold woman you'd brought to the beach. Her ponytail is still wet, and after using the towel to dry off, she slipped back into the crop top tee and loose linen pants. "I guess. A bit reluctant to leave though." She comes around the end of the car, slipping her arm around your waist. "Thank you."

Alex pauses when she slips an arm around his waist and leans in, kissing her softly on the lips. "I know how you feel. Don't get the chance to come down here often." He grins, "But you're very welcome. We'll do this again soon. I promise."

There is a flash of light and the four armed human-looking woman appears with a smirk on her face. "You've been summoned." Is all she says.

Alex pushes Gia away. "Oh crap. Gianna ru..!" He takes a single step before the woman lifts one of her arms his direction and a beam of light strikes him, looking like for all practical purposes that he's been disintegrated.

Gia gives a little squeeze around your waist, returning the kiss. "I certainly hope so." She murmurs, pressing another kiss to your lips before letting her arm slide from around your waist.

The flash of light has Gia blinking, and she stumbles when you push her. "Alex? Wha..?" She manages to keep herself from falling on her rear, catching herself just in time to see you disappear. "Who the hell are you? What did you do with Alex?" She demands.

Spiral smirks again. "You'll find out soon enough, Mutant." She moves fast, flipping and twirling around in an attempt to disorient Gia e before she fires one of those white beams towards her. "New blood incoming."

Gianna scowls. "You don't know what you're talking about." She takes a step back as the other... /thing/ dances about. Gia raises her arms in a defensive gesture as the white beam comes at her.

Gia would find herself transported to an arena where the audience members are not at all human. Picture all kinds of aliens of different sizes, shapes, and colors, and that's what this crowd looks like. She is inside of an energy cage along with Alex, who is dressed in his X-Men uniform, the first time she's ever seen him in it. The expression on his face is one of concern, but he doesn't seem to be panicking. Perhaps he knows what this is.

When she opens her eyes and sees the scene around her, Gia looks more than a little disoriented. When she first sees you in your uniform, it doesn't help to comfort her. Her gaze flits from the faces in the crowd to the costumed figure in the cage with her. "Where the hell..." She blinks again. "Alex?"

Alex looks over at Gia and frowns. "I was really hoping that you ran when I told you to." He walks over and exhales softly. "Okay, I'm gonna tell you some things now. You may not believe me all at once, but you have to trust me. We're in a place called Mojoworld in the Mojoverse. Long story short, not only are we not on Earth, but we're no longer in our home reality." He looks over at the large monitor. "My guess is that we're about to star in an intergalactic movie or television show. And refusal to participate is non negotiable. Mojo's technology is vastly superior to anything we've ever seen on Earth." He pauses to let that sink in. "Another dynamite date, huh?"

Gia takes another look at you in your uniform. "Not like I had much chance to run. It took a few minutes just to get my bearings, what with all that flashing light." She growls, propping her hands on her hips. She takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly. She's relatively cool, on the outside, but inside... she's freaking out.

Meanwhile in the control room Mojo is flitting about on his robotic legs as he rubs his hands gleefully. "Oh yes. We're going to do this big! We're going to have blood, mayhem, explosions, and a little bit of a love interest! Spiral, put me on the screen for a moment!" The television overhead sparks to life and Gia gets to see the slimy glob that is Mojo. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Mojodome! We have a special treat for you tonight. Two beings from that dirtball Earth will star in my latest creation! I call it 'Alien Wars'!" The crowd goes nuts as Mojo looks directly at Gia and Alex. "You're hereby under contract, refusal to participate will result in your immediate dismissal..by incineration!" The screen goes blank and in the control room, Mojo looks at Spiral. "Lights..cameras..action!"

Gia and Alex hear a voice-over as the lights go dark and they are standing in a spotlight. "In a galaxy in turmoil, the last mutants in the universe attempt to flee for their miserable lives as they find themselves hunted by the dreaded Jemtarian Empire! Do they have fortitude and the cunning to escape...the Alien War!"

A picture of Alex comes floats in mid-air. "Starring Alexander Summers as the hot-headed and heroic Commander Havok, and Gia Dalton as the beautiful but deadly Gianna Galaxy. Will these partners in crime and passion have what it takes? Stay tuned!"

Gia and Alex find themselves suddenly on the bridge of a futuristic starship adrift somewhere in the cosmos. Gia finds that her clothing has been changed to a futuristic costume that shows a lot of cleavage with a blaster strapped to her leg and a plasma rifle strapped over her shoulder. Alex also has a rifle over his shoulder, but no blaster at his leg.

Alex looks around the ship and comments, "Mojo must be slipping. He thinks you're a mutant. Probably because we were together when Spiral transported us here." Course, Gia knows Spiral called her out before she was ever transported.

The voice has Gia's head snapping around... and the site she sees has her cringing. She tucks herself in against your side. "What... is THAT thing?" Everything is all together disorienting, and it doesn't seem to set in that Mojo called them both mutants. When the pair of you find yourself on a starship bridge, you find her grabbing hold of your arm tightly. "This is all... way... too.. unbelievable." She glances down at herself, stepping back and checking the blaster, and rifle. "How the hell do we get out of here?" She pauses, eyes lifting to meet yours. There's a fear in their depths, but it's 'likely' just the circumstances, not the fact that she's been referred to as a mutant.

Alex turns to face Gia and holds her in his arms for a moment. "Gia..everything will be okay. The only way out is to play out this movie or whatever to it's conclusion. We've been cast, and we have to play our parts. If we don't, he will kill us. Besides, during this..debacle we'll have time to try to figure a way out once this thing ends." He pauses. "And another thing. Everything you see will feel real. Treat it as you would in real life." He plants a kiss on her lips to calm her. And they hear oohs and aahs from the audience that they can't see. "First things first, we have to figure out how to operate this ship and get moving. I can promise you that the enemy he spoke about is on the way to find us. And we can't be here when they do." He points to a chair. "Near as I can tell, that's the pilot's seat and the one across is the gunner's seat. You take that one. I'll try to figure out how to fly this thing. I've been in space before..on a Shi'ar vessel. Can't be all that different. Just trust me and follow my lead, and we will survive this."

Gia tightens her arms around your waist. "I trust you." She murmurs, pressing another kiss to your lips. "I'm a fair shot..." She steps back, looking over to the gunner's seat. "... but can't say I have any idea how to operate something like that..." She glances down, laying a hand on the blaster. "... or this, for that matter."

Alex states. "That's the point. Mojo knows that our planet's inhabitants aren't used to space travel, or futuristic weaponry. We're gonna have to wing it." He releases Gia from the hug he had her in and sits down in the chair. He takes a moment to look over the console before he murmurs. "Hmm. Neutronium drive. That's gotta be it." He flips the switch and the lights and consoles power up. The front of the ship becomes transparent, giving the two of them a view of the stars. And what looks like red giant star. Alex frowns. "Gotta get the engines online. We're drifting towards that giant star. If we get in it's gravity well, this trip will be shorter than we think." He looks over at Gia. "I know this is a lot to take in. But if you've ever watched any sci-fi movies or anything like that. You need to focus and draw upon that knowledge. It might save us both. Look at the console. For some reason, it's in English, or native tongue. We at least have that going for us."

Gia scrambles over to the seat you indicated for her. "Only thing I've ever watched, sci-fi, was Star Wars, and it wasn't like they gave any training in those movies." She's feeling the stress, and it's coming out snippy. She stares at the console, wrinkling her nose. "This is insane..." She looks up, just as the view from outside becomes apparent. "Where's Scotty when you need him?"

Alex grins. "I've seen every Star Wars and Star Trek movie or television series. I don't know what I'm doing, but I can wing it..aha!" He flips another switch and a high pitched whine can be heard as the ship begins to vibrate. "Found the engines. Alright..." He grabs hold of the stick, which looks a lot like a steering wheel that's been broken in half. "This isn't all that different from the Blackbird." As the ship slowly moves away from the sun. Alex punches a few more buttons. "Excellent. I found the hyperdrive. Man, it's a good thing I teach physics. The calculations look a little advanced. I'll try to figure it out. Meanwhile, you attempt to figure out those guns. We're going to need them at some point. I can't do both." He looks over. "I promise, if we get out of this, I will totally make it up to you." That is, if she still wants to go out with him after.

Gia wrinkles her nose, staring at the console. She begins pushing a few buttons and flipping switches. "And just hope this doesn't backfire, and I get us both killed?" She doesn't respond to the 'making it up to her' part. Have to get out of this alive first. "IF, I can get this figured out, I'd love to get that many armed bitch in my sights."

Mojo is all about movies and television, even those from Earth. Gia will eventually figure out that the console works on the same principle as the one from an old movie called The Last Starfighter. Basically, as she begins pushing buttons, she turns on the targeting computer. An eyepiece extends from the back of her seat to settle over her right eye. This gives her a view through the ship's sensor array along with a targeting reticle. She receives instructions via text coming across her eye. The two sticks on the console, control the angle and direction of the cannons on the outside. The buttons on each of the control sticks fires the weapons. Though she has to be careful..if she fires too much, too fast, they will overheat. She also finds out that she has control over the ship's environmental controls and shielding from her console as well as communications. After awhile, she feels the ship move faster as Alex manages to figure out the hyperdrive. He then asks. "How's it coming over there?"

Gia startles when the eye piece settles in front of her eye, but she seems to get the hang of things pretty quickly. She makes a test fire, just to make sure she understand how it works. "Well, just give me something to shoot at, and I'll give it a try."

Alex smiles. "Sweet." He opens his mouth to comment about how her outfit was pretty sexy when a proximity alert sounds. On Gia's console, she can see about six red dots drop into normal space in a semi-circle around the green dot that represents them. Alex frowns. "Man, I was just about to comment on your outfit. Any idea what that noise is about?"

"Aw.. crap. Guess I got my wish." Gia curses softly, grabbing hold of the 'joysticks', and tries to take aim. "I wonder how far away these things work... but here goes." Using her best guess, she takes aim, and fires off several shots.

It takes Gia a few shots to get used to the controls, but her third shot scores a hit, as sparks fly from the other ship. Alex grunts and yanks on the controls, causing the ship to move in a zig-zag pattern. "Crap is right. Those must be the guys who are after us."

A deep growly voice comes over on the speakers inside the ship. "This is Prime Lord Trelvanian of the Jemtarian Empire. Lower your shields, power down your weapons, cut your engines and prepare to be boarded! Or we will destroy your vessel."

Alex murmurs under his breath. "Screw that. Hold on, Gia. I'll fly, you shoot." She's pressed back into her seat a bit as Alex puts on some speed. But she also notices the red dots give chase and return fire.

Gia lets out a curse that would make a sailor blush. "Like hell..." After adjusting for the forward thrust, she digs in and gets serious about trying to hit those red blips on her screen. She's not a bad shot, with a pistol, but she's never really played many video games. Still, there is something to be said for marksmanship - either way. A few practice shots, and she manages to nail one of those red dots.

As Gia scores another hit, Alex whoops over in his seat. "I love you so much right now." Course, he doesn't realize what he just said, but Gia does get to see just how good of a pilot Alex is. He's ducking and dodging, bobbing and weaving through blaster fire, trying to avoid getting hit while giving Gia a good chance to light these guys up with the guns. Another alarm sounds, and the recticle over her eye shows a nearby asteroid field that they could possibly lose the other ships in. Also another, larger ship drops into the system at around the same time. Common sense would dictate they probably don't have the firepower to take on that bigger gunship. Alex does hear the new alarm, but he's kind of focused right now. "What the hell is it now?"

Your words don't quite sink in. Gia doesn't have the time to, to be honest, as she's starting to get the hang of this. She keeps her focus, taking out another red blip. She's having more of a challenge trying to hit her targets, with all your fancy flying. "Careful there. You're making it hard to aim."

The alarm has her jerking her head back, looking over at you from where she sits. "What...?" She's about to say, but then you essentially voice what she's thinking. She turns her attention back to her vid-screen. "Son of a..."

Alex grins. "Trying to keep us from getting hit, babe." He replies before there is a huge bump and the ship starts to slow down. Alex scrambles, hitting buttons and then he just sinks back in his seat. "We've been caught in a tractor from the big ship." He stands up and kicks the console. "Damn Mojo always stacking the deck. Should have expected it." He reaches over and gets the plasma rifle. He checks it and flips a switch, powering it on. "Must be part of the script that we get captured. Odds are, they're going to board us. The ship is dead in the water."

Gia lets out another curse, and out of frustration, she sets off another series of shots at anything she has a chance to hit, before drawing her head back and slamming her fist onto the console. "Just give me a chance to get my hands on that... Mojo, did you call him? I'll give him something to..." Seeing you reach for the plasma rifle, she drops her gaze to the blaster on her thigh, taking hold of it to inspect it. "Hope these are as accurate as a glock."

Alex shrugs slightly. "I've never shot anything like this before. However, I know from past experience that my mutant powers work here. So I hope not to have to lean on it too much. But if it's anything like the rifle, there's a switch on the battery pack on the bottom. I think that powers it up." The ship is rocked hard, almost causing both Alex and Gia to fall. Alex frowns. "They're coming." He takes up a position behind the flight console facing the door that leads onto the bridge.

"Well, I've seen what you can do, so maybe it'll be enough to get us out of here." Gia holds up her blaster, prepared to face whatever might appear to try and capture them, when the ship rocks. Her hands flail, but she manages to keep hold of the blaster in her hand, as she ends up falling in against your chest. Her free hand grabs hold of your shoulder, and she finds herself face to face with you... her chest beating hard against her chest.

Alex swallows hard as he catches Gia, putting one hand around her waist, their lips inches away from each other. He says just above a whisper. "Gianna..just in case we don't make it. I just want you to know..." He pauses as his eyes shift over to the door.

Movies and tv have a way of drawing out dramatic moments, and this one is truly a picture perfect, dramatic moment. "Don't worry. We'll make it." A smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. "I have every confidence in you."

Alex flashes Gia a smile just as sparks come from the door as the Jemtarians begin to force their way inside. He presses a quick kiss against her lips. "Thanks. I'll tell you later, then." There is a small explosion as the soldiers come in. They are humanoid with onyx colored skin, fangs and a third eye in the middle of their forehead with wild looking white hair. "Give up, Havok and Galaxy! The Prime Lord requests your presence and I'm afraid he insist you join him."

Alex gets into the role as he replies. "Then tell the three eyed bastard that he's going to have to be disappointed." And then he opens fire with the plasma rifle..though it feels kind of weird to him and he only gets a glancing shot and the rest hit the walls.

The kiss is brief, and the explosion has her stepping back a bit. She's never been the kind of girl to be a shrinking violet, or hide when it comes to danger - at least the normal, human kind of nature... but these guys? She hasn't practiced with the blaster yet, though she has had quite a bit of training with firearms, and potential recoil, so when she takes her own shot - aiming for that center eye - she gets pretty darn close.

As the lead soldier goes down from a shot to the head..right next to that third eye, Alex looks impressed. "Wow. You -are- a good shot." The gun has literally no recoil, being an energy weapon and not a projectile one. But it handles very similarly to a Glock.

The soldiers begin to pour in, faster than they can be shot. Alex tosses the gun to the side and his fists glow as he starts shooting with his plasma blasts from his fists. "Screw this.." Unfortunately, it puts him out in the open, and he is hit quite a few times, though it's around the tenth or thirteenth time that he's hit that he finally begins to slow. He can only absorb so much energy.

Gia registers surprise when there's no recoil, and she manages to make her mark... well nearly. She ducks behind cover and begins to fire, picking off as many as she can. She doesn't have time for accolades. "Take cover Alex." She calls out, but when she sees you struggling, she tries to pick off more of the guys attacking you... which takes her attention away from her own defense.

The soldiers around Alex begin to fall, but Gia is soon surrounded and the commander calls out. "Havok, stand down, or Miss Galaxy is going to go from being an endangered species to extinct." Alex looks over and knows Mojo would let it happen. He holds his hands up with a sigh. The commander nods. "Excellent choice." More soldiers come in as he gives the order. "Take them to the command ship and impound their vessel." Alex gives Gia that 'I'm sorry' expression as he is shoved away.

"No!" Gia protests when she sees you giving up. Even though she's surrounded, she tries to take aim with the blaster again, though the odds of her escaping her captors really makes the attempt a futile one. Still, she doesn't give up, using her head, elbows, knees, feet - though not teeth. She really doesn't want to sink her teeth into whatever kind of flesh that might be.

The commander chuckles as Gia continues to fight a losing battle, though she is effective, the numbers game eventually begins to overwhelm her. "She's spunky. Maybe the Prime Lord will kill you and keep her around as a concubine." He laughs as solders swarm on Gia again, attempting to pile onto her and hold her down. By this time Alex has already been taken out of the door, he thinks about fighting but he knew this was somehow part of the plot. It was too..perfect.

Gia calls out, loud enough you can hear her. "He can go fuck himself, cause if he gets it anywhere near me... he'll lose it." Yep, the girl is feisty, and there can be no doubt in anyone's mind... someone tries to force her, she'll make good on that threat.

Alex yells out. "You tell him that if he even thinks about laying a hand on her, I will kill us all. I swear it." The commander starts to smile but it falters. The two threats he hears doesn't sound like they're empty. Alex yells out. "Gianna, calm down. We'll figure a way out of this, I promise." And then he's taken out through the airlock.

A small smile forms when Gia hears your words, and levels a serious glare on her captors dragging her along. "Hmm... wonder what you got going on down there?" She glances at one of their groin. "Is it precious enough to you, for you to keep it?"

Both Alex and Gia are taken through several security points when they are taken aboard the command ship. Everywhere they look they see three eyed soldiers. When Gia asks her question, the soldier swallows lightly. "Uh..yes. I want to keep it." Another soldier nudges him. "Don't talk to her."

They are taken deep into the heart of the ship into a large room with two large chairs. One chair holds another Jemtarian, only he is clad in a purple cloak with a crown on his head that has an opening to accommodate his third eye. On the second chair is none other than Spiral..with as expression on her face like she doesn't even want to be there.

Gia looks like she might enjoy depriving the soldier of it, and the glee that lights her eyes and face is almost palpable... might even make a few cringe. "Then pass the word... anyone who prizes their..." Her gaze flits to his groin area. "... anatomy... keeps it away from me." She smiles, baring her teeth... and for a brief moment, her 'canine's grow, looking a little sharper, and more like fangs, before shrinking back to their usual size. It's so brief, anyone seeing it might question if they really saw what they thought they saw.

She struggles against those holding her, but those efforts are as equally futile as the ones back on the ship, especially when she's continually propelled forward. When she sees Spiral, her gaze narrows, and if she wasn't being held by the soldiers, she would have lunged forward, trying to wrap her fingers around her neck.

"You bitch!"

Spiral looks like she's not at all concerned with what's going on. She looks at Gianna and just shrugs slightly. Meanwhile the Prime Lord does all the talking. "Commander Havok and Gianna Galaxy. Finally, I have you. As the last two mutants left in the galaxy, I'm torn with simply exterminating your race, or putting you both in a zoo and breed you in captivity." Spiral yawns and says as if delivering a line. "They're not all that special. Just put em out of their misery."

Alex and Gia are let go as the soldiers file out of the room. Currently, they are standing side by side. Alex comments, "Or you could just let us go?""

Gia jerks her arm free, even as the soldier lets her go. "Just let me get my hands on that blaster again, I'll make this easier on all of us." Of course, she's thinking of putting an end to the tyrant, and his witch that spirited her and Alex away from the beach... but then she pauses for thought. "Then again, just killing us would make for such a boring plotline, wouldn't it?" She snorts, rolling her eyes to look over at Alex. "Don't they have ANY creative writers? Personally, I think we're the most interesting part of this whole flick." She jerks her thumb in the direction of the Prime Lord. "If I were watching, I would have changed chanels hours ago."

Alex smirks at Gia and then comments, "I agree. The writing is bad. The acting is horrible, I mean look at Spiral. She's pretty much just phoning it in."

There is a flash of light and Mojo himself appears. "Damnit, they're right. Spiral you're stinking up my movie. At least pretend you have some talent! You're killing our ratings! However." He turns on his mechanical spider legs to face Gia and Alex. "You two are a sensation. I'm gonna make tons of movies with you. You're going to stay here forever!" He grins while rubbing his hands together with glee.

Gia grins over at you, but the flash of light has her jumping a little. She reaches for, and grabs hold of your arm. She leans in to whisper. "What, exactly, is that?" She wrinkles her nose, making a disgusted face at the sight. At the mention of making tons of movies, Gia releases her grip on Alex's arm, crossing her own arms over her chest and snorts softly. "Well, if you want continued good acting out of me, then we need to sit down and discuss a contract." She loosens her arms, waving her hands in front of her to indicated her delectable form. "All this, doesn't come cheap, bucko."

All the while this has been going on, Alex has been absorbing energy from anything he can. He's holding enough right now to blow a hole in the mojo dome which is how all of this has been possible. "Screw that. Mojo, we're not staying. Because I've got my alpha strike ready, and I can and will blow us all to hell." He leans towards Gia. "No idea what he is. Just know that he's Mojo and that he has no bones."

Mojo gives Alex a look. "You wouldn't dare. You'd do anything to keep your little mutie girlfriend there safe."

Alex smiles. "You've made a mistake, Mojo. You must have mistaken me for my brother Cyclops. He's the one that's straight laced and honorable. I'm the reckless one with the anger issues, remember? I simply don't care." Energy begins to sparkle and flow around his body. "Ten seconds."

Mojo pauses and then looks at Gia. "He's bluffing...right?"

Gia looks back and forth between you, and Mojo, even taking a step away from you for good measure. "What? Not even giving me a chance to negotiate?" She honestly sounds a bit miffed, crossing her arms and giving a little stomp of her foot. She glares at Mojo. "Watch who you're calling names. You look like a big blob of snot, or something." When the question is posed to her, she even manages to look concerned. "We've only known each other a short time. Can't imagine he's grown that attached to me yet."

Alex shrugs at Gia. "Mojo doesn't negotiate." He deadpans at him. "Seven.."

Mojo begins to sweat as he looks at Gianna. "No. I saw him kiss you. He's bluffing. I know it." Alex still doesn't move though energy begins to lance off his body and onto the ground. "Five..by the way, I'll survive since I can't be hurt by my own energy. Gonna suck for the rest of you, though." A moment. "Four.."

Mojo reaches over and smacks the crap out of Spiral. "Send them back! Send them back!" Alex states. "Three.."

"Really? Really?! You'd toast me, to save yourself?" Gia gives another stomp of her foot. "If I just had my hands on that blaster again." She really isn't that bad of an actress, managing to look pretty nervous right about now - completely ignoring Mojo at the moment - or at least appearing to. She lets off another string of curses, apparently directed at you. While she appears to be focused entirely on you, she's keeping an eye on Mojo and the others' reactions.

After getting smacked, Spiral starts and lifts two arms, firing beams at both Alex and Gia. There is a bright flash of light and the two of them are back where they started, wearing the clothing they were in before, standing in the same spot they were in before it all happened. Alex's body stops sparking and he leans against the car, closing his eyes. "That..was close." He looks over at Gia. "You ever think about going into acting instead of art?" He grins.

Giving away the fact she /was/ spreading out her attention, when the beams aimed at the two of you come, Gia immediately throws her arms up in a defensive gesture, and she 'ducks' behind her raised arms. It takes a moment for her to open her eyes and realize the two of you are back at the car, and she slowly straightens, lowering her arms. When she starts to relax, out of nowhere, she gives a little swing of her fist, punching your arm.

Alex winces from Gia's strike on his arm and rubs the spot vigorously. "Ow. What the hell was that for? I did the only thing I could think of to get us out of there. There is no way we could have fought either Spiral or Mojo. Not even Wolverine can take her out. She's got six arms and is a master swordsperson. And she carries a blade in every arm save one, which she uses to sling magic that Mojo taught her. How else do you think he was able to manipulate things the way he did?"

Gia scowls, wrinkling her nose again, though she derived some measure of satisfaction from seeing you wince. "Still? Really?" She gives you another, this time light, shove. "I think you owe me some ice cream." She moves around to the passenger side of the car, pulling the door open and sliding in to fasten her seat belt. "Three scoops, even!" She hollers in hopes of being heard outside the car.

Alex sighs slightly. "Deal. Three scoops." He shuts the trunk and slides behind the wheel. Before he starts the engine and looks over at her. "Come on. Admit it..some of that was fun, right?"

Gia has folded her hands in her lap, and glances sideways at you when you settle in. "Fun? Knowing our lives were on the line?" She tries to maintain a serious expression... really she does... but it slips, and a smile peeks through. "Okay, but I would have enjoyed it more, if we didn't have to worry about our lives."

Alex starts the car. "Well, that's how Mojo does business. I should tell you about the time he turned my brother's team into babies and made a show out of it." He pauses. "I know I don't have to say it. But you know I was bluffing about blowing you guys up. That play wouldn't have worked unless Mojo himself had been there. The only thing more important to him than good ratings is his own life. And I mean the only thing."

Gia arches her brows, and leans in against you, laying her head on your shoulder. She reaches over, laying her hand on y our knee. "It's a good thing I'm able to roll through the punched... but I have to tell you, I hope I never... and I mean NEVER... have to see them, or that place again."

Alex places his arms around Gia's shoulders as he heads for the nearest ice cream place. "That's not even the weirdest thing I've done this week. But yeah, I hate going there. If we're lucky, we will never see that place ever again."