*Carlos and Luna arrive at Taina's door. Luna rings the bell, and they wait for a few moments. Rico answers the door.*
(Rico) "Ola friends!
*Rico steps back and lets Carlos in. He gives Carlos a hug. Luna follows, and Rico leans in to give her a hug, but she steps back slightly.*
(Rico) "It is good to see you here. Everyone is already in the basement.
(Luna) "Is Angelique here?"
(Rico) "Not yet, but she is comming tonight."
*They get to the basement, and Luna looks around, surprised. She was in this house before, but not the basement. She is amazed that it was so quickly changed into a pretty decent training facility. There are rubber mats, weights, punching bags, medicine balls, and other apparatus all over the house's large basement.*
(Carlos) "Ok everyone........let's get together here.
*Everyone gathers around Carlos*
(Carlos) "Tonight, something different will happen.
(Marisol) "What is that?"
(Carlos) "To function better as a team, we need to be aware of what we are all capable of. So each one of us will train in front of the group, being observed. With us watching you, we can critique your strengths and weaknesses. I want you all to start stretches and warm ups. I will set up the gym, and call you when I'm ready."
*Marisol, Taina, Rico, Luna, Rodolfo, Romero (X-Man) and Javiar begin to stretch and warm up......after about 20 minutes, Carlos calls everyone into the main room. They see it is set up like an obstacle course.*
(Carlos) "Ok everyone, here is the deal.....One by one, we will all try to get across the obstacle course. While one of us does that, the remaining 7 will have 3 of these red rubber balls. We will be tossing them at you with all our strength. It is your mission to get as far as you can without being hit. That part of the course over there, with all the blue mats, is "water" you have to swing or jump across it without hitting it. Taina, you will be throwing the balls at the others, but not running the course. With you due to give birth in just a few months, I don't want to risk an injury."
(Luna) "We're gonna be playing Dodge Ball? This is training?"
(Carlos) "Just follow along Luna.....trust me....you may learn something. Javiar, you're first."
(Javiar) "Why am I first?"
(Carlos) "Because you're the one who's never trained, so you will need the most work."
(Taina) "Ooop.....oh no he didn't."
(Rodolfo) "Hahaha."
(Carlos) "That's enough....Everyone get into position, and get ready."
(Javiar) "I'm ready.
(Carlos) "Go!"
*Javiar begins the course.....Marisol and Rodolfo throw two balls at Javiar, and he dodges them. He gets past the first two obstacles. As he gets to the third, Luna hurls a ball at Javiar and strikes him in the chest.*
(Carlos) "You're out Javiar. Not bad.....you did better than I thought. Change places with Rodolfo. It's his turn to run the course."
*Rodolfo gets to the begining of the course, and begins. He gets past the first two obstacles, and misses 4 throws. He gets over the third obstacle, and Marisol levitates her dodge ball, and mentally hits Rodolfo with it. He is out.*
(Marisol) "Sorry honey."
(Luna) "I must say, I'm begining to enjoy this."
*One by one, they run the obstacle course, each one getting further.*
*Rico is next, and he decides to go into his "transition" of half man/half wolf. With his quicker reflexes Rico gets farther into the course than the others. He manages to dodge 8 balls and get better than halfway across. Luna stops him.*
*Romero (X-man) is next. He starts of quickly and gets to the midpoint without being hit. He gets to the blue mats (the "water") and leaps over it. Carlos tags him out.*
*Marisol runs the course next. 3 dodge balls are hurled at her and she focuses her telekenetics. They all bounce away without hitting her. She gets to midpoint and dodges 3 more throws. She reaches the "water trap" and simply levitates herself over it. With only 3 obstacles left, Javiar surprises her and tags her out.*
*Carlos goes next and is able to dodge almost all the attacks. He gets past all the obstacles and to the midpoint. He continues to dodge the throws and gets past the "water trap" and continues on. At the last obstacle, Rodolfo manages to tag out Carlos.*
*Luna is the last to run the course.....because she's been slaying for so many years, the obstacle course is almost nothing to her... She quickly dodges all the balls and finishes the course. She's the only one to complete it.*
(Carlos) "Nice Job Luna. I hope you all watched her closely. That is the way to move."
(Luna) "You guys have some good aim though....There were a couple of close calls for me there."
(Carlos) "Ok, I want everyone to clear out the course.....we're going to train in pairs."
*Everyone starts to move the stuff away and then gets together in in center of the room.*
(Carlos) Ok, here's what I want. Javiar and Rodolfo will work together for the next 30 minutes with weight training. Marisol and Taina.....work together to control your psi powers. I want you trying to levitate weights and other heavy objects. Rico and Romero, I want you to practice your hand to hand combat on each other.......Rico in your "transition" form, and Romero as a halfling are evenly matched. Luna, you and I will practice our hand to hand on each other. Everyone just be careful not to hurt your partner."
*Everyone begins their training. As the session goes on and the end comes, everyones attention is turned to Rico, Romero, Carlos, and Luna. With Javiar and Rodolfo being unpowered humans, and Taina's and Marisol's powers being psychic, they are in awe of the display of physical strength. Rico swings at Romero, who jumps over the swing, and kicks at Rico, who recoils and dodges the blow. Luna swings at Carlos, who drops to the floor, and rolls and kicks out her legs, she flips in air to land back on her feet. She leaps at Carlos who backflips out of her reach and high-kicks in her direction. Suddenly, they are aware they are being watched. They turn to see Angelique standing at the bottom of the stairs.*
(Angelique) "I'm impressed. Very impressed."
(Romero) "How long have you been there?"
(Angelique) "I've been here since Javiar began his run at the obstacle course. I wanted to watch, and not disturb your session."
(Taina) "What is the book you are holding?"
(Angelique) "Change into some clean clothes, and then meet me in the living room. I have much to tell you."
*Marisol and Taina take quick showers, and everyone else changes into clean, dry clothes. They meet in the livingroom with Angelique.*
(Angelique) "This book is the book that gave us the clue to save Antonio."
(Luna) "Who is Antonio?"
(Angelique) "That was a battle we had before we met you. We weren't able to save him, but this book held the key to save him. Upon further investigation, I found a passage in here that shows how to give Heaven a soul."
(Luna) "That's wonderful! Thank you Angelique."
(Taina) "That means we can give Heaven her soul back."
(Angelique) "That's not what I said Taina."
(Javiar) "Angelique, I thought you said that you found a way to give Heaven her soul."
(Angelique) "I said "a" soul, not her soul."
(Rico) "What needs to be done?"
(Angelique) "Do you remember the baby?"
(Marisol) "The one that was to be sacrificed to bring on the apocolypse?"
(Angelique) "Yes, that one. That baby is part Antonio, and therefore, part dark angel. However, it's sole purpose of existance was to be the key to bring on the end of Earth. When we stopped that, we gave the baby no purpose in life. Therefore, the soul of the baby can be removed without consequence with the spell in this book. The baby will fade away from existance, and Heaven will be whole again."
(Romero) "So what we need to do is find the baby."
(Rodolfo) "and from what we remember, the baby was taken by the remaining vampires at that battle."
(Luna) "Do you think they killed the baby?"
(Angelique) "I doubt it highly. One baby wouldn't be able to sustain them. They probably assume that the baby will acquire some powers, and wish to exploit it. We'll deal with them, when we find them."
(Carlos) "There is more, isn't there Angelique.......you have something else to tell us. I can see it in your face."
(Angelique) "We are being watched. I don't know why, but an old enemy of mine, Brenda the witch, has been tailing me lately. It's very possible she's been watching you all as well."
(Luna) "What does she look like? We can deal with her."
(Angelique) "It doesn't matter what she looks like. Part of her powers are shape shifting. She also can cast spells, and levitate."
(Carlos) "Then I guess there's not much we can do about her now, just everyone take extra care. Is there any time limit on when we have to cast the spell from that book?"
(Angelique) "The only stipulation is that it be done during the full moon."
(Luna) "The next phas of the full moon is a few days away. If we can find that baby by then, we'll be able to help Heaven."
(Carlos) "Well everyone, it's about 10:30 already. I suggest we all get home, and be safe. Starting tomorrow, everyone keep their eyes and ears open. The quicker we find the baby, the quicker we can help Heaven."
*Meanwhile across town........a phone rings...*
(Francisco) "Hello, det. Franciso here."
(Daniella) "Hey bro.......how are you?"
(Fancisco) "I'm fine. And you?"
(Daniella) "Fine thanks. I'm wondering if you are free tomorrow night?"
(Francisco) "I've got no plans......why?"
(Daniella) "I got a call from Carlos tonight. He is healed and ready to have dinner with us tomorrow. We're going to Chili's, and he asked that you come too."
(Francisco) "Great......an awkward night out.......I'll do it for you Daniella."
(Daniella) "Thank you. Muah!"
*Carlos is walking home, and stops before his place.......he walks over to a different apartment, and rings a bell. The bell buzzes and the door opens. Carlos walks in, and goes to the first apartment on the right. He knocks on the door. The door opens, and there stands Dona Lengua Larga.*
(Dona) "Carlos, I really don't....."
(Carlos) "Dona....don't speak. I'm here to say I'm sorry about what happened today."
(Dona) "Do you have ANY idea how embarrased I was?"
(Carlos) "There is no need to be embarrased. We are all adults."
(Dona) "How would you feel if Alberto walked in on you and Javiar?"
(Carlos) "I understand that you're upset.....but it was an accident."
(Dona) "That doesn't make it any better Carlos."
(Carlos) "No one will know....I will keep my mouth shut."
(Dona) "Well, ok........and Alberto called me to say he's on his way over. That's why I let you in...I thought you were him."
(Carlos) "He's looking for a place of his own, so soon you will have all the privacy you need."
(Dona) "Good. Thanks for the apology. Good night."
(Carlos) "Good Night."
*Carlos, feeling better, continues his walk home. Walking in the other direction, is Luna. She gets to a corner, and sees a drug dealer standing by an alleyway. Suddenly, he is dragged into the alley. She knows she's found a vampire.....possibly her sister. She runs to the alley, stake in hand. She looks in to see Heaven, her mouth and fangs dripping blood.*
(Heaven) "Hello Luna."
(Luna) "Heaven......we've found a way for you to get a soul."
(Heaven) "Tell me more."
*Luna tells Heaven about the book Angelique found, and the fact that everyone is searching for the baby.*
(Heaven) "Thank them for me."
(Luna) "I'll be in touch, as soon as we find the baby. Then, we just need to wait for the full moon! Good night sister."
*Heaven watches Luna walk away, then she flies home. Heaven never mentioned the letter she received. She has no intention of letter Luna and her "super friends" give her this soul. She doesn't trust humans, and halflings, and least of all , that maricon slayer. She'll see what these mysterious vampires who sent her the letter have to say. Since Angelique found a solution, that means the one the other vampires found must be true too. When tomorrow night comes, she'll have an answer either way.*