"<How long?>"
The words raked against his dry throat, as his shivering form slumped into the leather seat.
The cabin began to shake a bit, as Malvana surged the M-X into the upper atmosphere.
"<Only four days...>" she replied in a distracted tone. She adjusted the VID-link on her temple, atmospheric ratios spreading before her visual cortex at the speed-of-thought.
"<...only...>" he replied, tugging his coat tight. "<I'm out of touch for four days, and the Earth goes to Hell-in-a-handbasket.>"
Pro's weight shifted in his seat suddenly, as a wave of turbulence jostled the jet.
"<Well, you're just THAT important, love...>" she dryly commented with a trademark smile.
Prometheus just pursed his lips into a tight curl, rolling his eyes.
She cut her eyes over at him with a wicked grin. "<...see, the poor planet just couldn't bear to go on without you...>"
Pro slowly rolled his eyes towards her, cocking his eyebrow.
She began lightly scratching the edge of his knee with her fingernail.
"<...the entirety of everything just hangs precariously on the neo-narcissistic drama of your day-to-day lif--->"
"<I GOT IT the FIRST time, you sodding cow!>" he sharply interrupted her, thumping at her finger.
Malvana just broke into a giggle, throwing her arms over him with a wild hug.
"<Oh!>" she squealed with delight. "<You are so easy....>"
She cooed at him playfully, burying her nose against his neck, kneading him with the top of her head, until he finally cracked into a smile.
"<GET off...>" he mumbled, shrugging her laughing form back into her own seat.
A fresh cigarette gripped between his teeth, smoke drizzling up along his right cheek. His head rested comfortably against the cockpit window, giving a glinted view of the unnaturally dark atmosphere.
It wasn't the darkness that bothered him, however. Fear brought on by the absence of visual stimuli was an interpretive paranoia that he never conceded himself. No, it was the hint of power behind such a change. The change itself, be it good or bad, was, he was ashamed to admit, irrelevant when it came to this particular addiction.
The power.
The gloriously horrific taste of creation.
Power on this level. To open Hell onto the mortal plane.
The sly ardor of electrons colliding on the molecular level, in the same spot, in every plane of existence, simultaneously.
Power that breathed like The V. Moved like The V. FELT like The V. But....
...but...
His heart beat cold, as he finally placed all of his senses into focus. His eyes closed, as he softly mumbled to himself.
"...oh...god..."
It was The V.
But, it was also The X.
Malvana had melted her concentration back into the controls, preparing to make a sub-orbital jump, as Pro subtley placed the tele-link into his ear.
|||||Come out|||come out|||wherever you are||||| he thought 'loudly' into the wide ocean of cerebral noise that made up the sum total of humanities neurological consciousness.
There was brief pause, as the ocean became a field of static. And then, a cool, somber voice entered his head.
|||||It's about time you showed your mind|||||
|||||Been busy|||||Fill me in|||||
|||||Understood||||Get ready for enlightenment in 3||||2||||1|||||
Pro winced a bit, as Klarion tele-bombed his cerebral cortex with the situation.
|||||Fuck|||||
|||||That's what I said|||||What's the plan?|||||
|||||Plan?|||||What plan?|||||
|||||Hey, you're The Boss||||You've always got a plan|||||
||||Klarion, you JUST sent me the information|||||Do you really think I can come up with a plan for something like this in ten seconds flat?|||||
|||||It's been thirty seconds|||||
|||||Well, okay||||NOW I've got a plan|||||
|||||Didn't mean to rush you|||||
|||||Alert every agent, on every level, that M.A.N. is now on E.L.E.-1 status||||Assume all required global positions, and take every defensive posture needed to make sure all the continents remain the same shape||||Inform all higher-branch agents to wait for tactical orders from the 4th MAN|||||Tell Nuriko it's her show, but the 2nd and 3rd Agents have solo status during the conflict, and will be needed elsewhere|||||
|||||Understood|||||
|||||And Klarion?|||||
|||||Yes?|||||
|||||I'll only tolerate sarcasm from the people I sleep with. Understood?|||||
|||||Is that a proposal?|||||
|||||I hate you. Carry out my orders.|||||
|||||You're such a tease. Klarion out.|||||
Pro withdrew the tele-link, ashing his smoke as a sear of lightning flashed a few miles under them, briefly illuminating the cockpit.
"<That was pretty low for lightning...>" Mala commented.
A smile came to his face.
"<How close are we to Mandelovia?>" he asked.
"<ETA, less than two minutes...>"
"<Ah...>" he nodded his head with the same smile. "<...then that was a pissed-off Shock...>"
"<From one party to the next.>" Malvana shook her head in disbelief, studying the controls. "<Your family never ceases to amaze me.>"
"<You should see us at weddings. We do a great 'Pull-Joker1-out-of-the-cake' act that kills...>"
"<You should take it on the road.>"
"<...except it's more of a 'lawsuit' kind of act, than a 'situational comedy'...>"
"<Both, I would think.>"
"<...and a supervillian usually shows up...>"
"<Uninvited?>" she mockingly gasped.
"<Shocking, I know...>"
"<Dinner, tonight?>"
"<Sure...>"
"<I was thinking maybe a little Italian, a little seafood, evil amounts of wine...>"
"<Mind if we save the world first?>" he asked nonchalantly, brushing down the lapels of his coat, as the M-X made touchdown.
She leaned over, lightly kissing his lips. Then, standing up from her seat, motioned to the door with a smile.
"After you..."
