The Mansion:
(Earth #8189, Valentina Mansion / January 2nd, 2013)
Narrator
The Mansion: Valentina Mansion, Cheshire Island, New York of Earth#8189. January 2nd 2013… Upon arriving at Valentina Mansion, Sota guides the group down a series of grand, ornate corridors into a state-of-the-art medbay.
Ash
"BIG BROTHER! I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried about you." [excited, gleeful tone]
Narrator
Ash rushes over to his brother's medical bed and throws himself on his brother in a loving, tender embrace.
Edward
"Hey, kiddo. It's good to see you too. I see you found our friends."
Narrator
Edward gives his brother a soft, chaste kiss on the lips.
Ash
"No… They found me. Saved me from the crashed copter"
Narrator
Ash climbs off his brother, rushing back to Aiden's side. Ash takes Aiden's hand in his and nuzzles the older boy's arm before smiling back at his older brother and winking.
Edward
"I see."
Narrator
Edward nods understandingly at his brother's signals before smiling approvingly at the two boys.
Edward
"Thank you… all of you for protecting my dearest little brother when I could not. I am forever in your debt."
Terra
"Of course, we're family, and we will always do our best to protect him and you. Afterall, you have protected all of us so many times in the past."
Narrator
Terra walks over and kisses Edward on the head, and then one more kiss on the corner of his lips as he softly ghosts his hand down the right side of her face, down past her neck and then softly across her right breast before pulling his hand back. The chemistry between them nothing but a phantom vestige of a relationship that never truly started but has also long since passed. A faded lingering dream of a life that might have been.
Lizzie
"Except me, but I'm new, so… yeah." [playful tone ending in a chuckle]
Narrator
Lizzie offers a sarcastic smirk to Edward,
Edward
"Indeed, you are. Welcome, my name is Edward."
Lizzie
"Yeah, I gathered that. Detective Lizzie Cullin. Thanks for sending Sota to save us from that horde."
Edward
"A friend, old or new, is always worth protecting, and you did have my most precious treasure and deepest love with you afterall."
Narrator
Edward gestures to his little brother.
Ven
"So what's the plan? This place seems secure. Are we just going to wait here for our worm-brained friends out there to starve?"
Narrator
Ven walks over to Edward and pats him on the shoulder supportively before placing a tender kiss of his own on the corner of Edward's lips.
Captain Raina Lordella
"Sorry, but I'm afraid that's not a fucking option" [firm authoritative tone]
Narrator
The group turns to see a strange woman who looks like she just fought her way through hell.
Tristan
"Who the hell are you?"
Narrator
Demands Tristan, stepping forward protectively with Joey immediately moving in to back him up.
Captain Raina Lordella
"My name is Captain Reina Lordella, and you need to hear my words and act accordingly or else all of us are doomed." [darkly dire tone heavy with the end of the world]
Narrator
Captain Raina rushes over to a nearby terminal and begins messing with it.
Edward
"What are you doing?"[stern tone]
Narrator
Captain Riana continues to mess around with the terminal. Then she pulls out some sort of Disk-Drive with the floating hologram of girl coming out. The hologram girl silently examines the terminal ports and then morphs a new connecter cord out of the disk drive which Raina then plugs into the terminal.
Captain Raina Lordella
"I am enabling Sota to make contact with Liahona?"
Ash
"Liahona? Who's Liahona?"
Captain Raina Lordella
"A precious friend and the Central Command A.I. of my Meta-Spacial Phase-Ship"
Narrator
Explains Lordella as she finishes uploading the new programs into Sota.
Sota
"System Override Accepted. New Connection Established"
Narrator
Proclaims Sota going rigid for a moment before stretching forth his hand and conjuring into the room the digital spectre of a garbless young girl.
Liahona
"Greetings, Captain. I am relieved to see you again." [warm loving tone]
Captain Raina Lordella
"Liahona, full status report since meta-spacial crash"
Liahona
"Captain. Edward. All of you must hear this. The Nazi Reich of Universe NEV‑11 has restored our crashed Valkeria Slip‑Stream Craft which they intend to use to spread their genocidal fascist domination throughout the multiverse."
Narrator
The group shifts uneasily. Edward's jaw tightens. Ash clutches Aiden's hand.
Liahona
"Anya of NEV‑11 Earth and her resistance fighters have chosen their final course. They will strike the Nazi stronghold, seize the Valkeria, and take it back to the moment of its original crash. There, they will detonate its Meta‑Spacial Core. The resonance between the restored core and the original will create a rupture point in the form of a Reality Convergence Shockwave. All realities in its path will collapse into one. Including the universe you are currently in captain"
Narrator
The digital display of the convergence wave punctuating her words with the menacing gravity of the situation.
Liahona
"But this convergence is not the end. It is the beginning of the loop. Buffy, Anya's daughter, has the power to run across realities and even now she races to deliver this same message to the farthest Anya she can reach. To the Anya of Earth 8193. It will be up to her team and your team there close the temporal loop after the convergence happens and the new merged is formed thus preventing any paradoxes forming from this plan and preventing Nazi domination throughout all of the multiverse."
Narrator
Liahona projects slide after slide of information filled with data streams, and new schematics in the form of bracelets of intricate design, etched with coordinates and stabilizing matrices.
Liahona
"These are Time Tethers. You must construct them quickly. They will anchor you and the rest of your surivors during the Convergence Wave, ensuring that none of you are lost in the convergence. Once the merged Earth is formed in the new universe these tethers will deliver you and your new team to the precise coordinates required Half of your new team will arrive at the crashed ship to close the loop with Anya's team and the other half will arrive at Anya's estate to protect it from any potential threats. Both are essential."
Narrator
The holographic schematics rotate slowly, casting pale light across the group's faces.
Liahona
"Without these tethers, you all run the risk of being scattered or worse deleted from existence by the convergence. With them, you will stand where you must stand, when you must stand there. Closing the loop depends on it. The multiverse depends on it."
Narrator
Lightning flashes, illuminating the medbay in stark white. For the first time, the sanctuary of Valentina Mansion feels fragile.