Mike's CLINE Snippet, Pt. 15

Descending into the underground Genom base via the large hole that the possessed Gamma Kryptonian had made, Maya couldn't help but cursing every step of the way.

"Damn it, why couldn't they have taken the stairs?" she grumbled to herself, swearing profusely as she carefully climbed down. "And for that matter, why am I the one doing this? Any of the damn Champions could be down there in two seconds."

Of course, the Champions had all decided to do the smart thing and withdraw to a safe distance once Super Misato and the Gamma Kryptonian had begun their final battle. The brunette *could* have gone back to get them, of course, but she'd judged that just heading straight to the base herself would be faster. She wasn't so sure of that now.

However, in her misery and extreme fatigue, she wasn't above blaming the superhero group for things, anyway.

"Lousy bunch of supers and uber-martial artists," she grumped. "Make a girl feel all inadequate and generally out of shape. But when my skills are needed, nobody's impressed. They just wonder why I can't make the computers do cartwheels faster."

After what felt like an eternity, the former Ghostbuster finally made it to the secret base's bottom floor, huffing and puffing.

"Well, at least their trail won't be hard to follow," she commented to herself, seeing the series of holes that had been left in the walls.

Carefully picking her way through the mostly destroyed base, Maya couldn't help but wonder what she was doing. For all she knew, Shinji had just lost control of the Gamma Kryptonian, and the clash of the two titans was about to resume. If that was the case, she was probably as good as dead.

However, she hadn't come all this way to simply wait outside until someone gave the all clear. She could—she *wouldn't*—stop now.

/At least it sure doesn't sound like they're still fighting./ She thought, neither seeing nor hearing any sign of Misato or the Gamma Kryptonian.

At least, that was, until she reached the teleporter room.

"Misato!" she gasped, horrified by the sight of her Kryptonian friend lying on the floor, with a glowing green rock on her chest.

Misato, deeply unconscious, didn't respond.

Reacting quickly, Maya grabbed the chunk of kryptonite and picked it up. Ducking back into the hall, she picked a direction and hurling the glowing rock as far as she could. Unfortunately, that didn't have much effect on Misato so far as the brunette could tell.

"Crap, I don't think she's breathing," Maya hissed to herself, gripped by a sudden sinking feeling.

For a second, she looked around the room frantically, as though she might find some magical solution to this crisis hanging on the wall or sitting on the floor. When that was not forthcoming, she somehow managed to convince herself to pull back from the verge of panic and think rationally for a second.

She took a deep breath.

"*Help!*" Maya shouted at the top of her lungs. "Misato's been exposed to kryptonite! I think she might be dying!"

Hopefully, one of the Kryptonians on the Champions would that, and the group would come running. The brunette wasn't about to depend on it, though.

Squatting down, she grabbed Misato under her arms and started dragging the Kryptonian out of the room.

This was no easy task. Misato was significantly larger than Maya, and thanks to the high body density that was nearly universal among Kryptonians, she weighed over three times as much. Of course, it didn't help matters that the brunette was already exhausted.

"Don't worry, Misato," Maya panted as she made her way through the halls, making a point of moving away from the chunk of kryptonite. "Everything's gonna be fine. Hikawa planned to base his army of possessed Kryptonians here, so there's gotta be an infirmary especially for you guys around."

As luck would have it, the brunette happened to spot a sign on the wall pointed her in the right direction just then, and her spirits lifted somewhat. Hope remained.

Assuming, that was, that the special infirmary hadn't already been trashed.

/Don't think like that!/ Maya commanded herself, redoubling her efforts.

Yet despite how desperate she was to save her friend and current employer, the brunette could only move so fast, and it wasn't long before she slowed down even further, her already weary muscles soon screaming in protest.

"You know, I realize you're all muscle," the smaller woman huffed she slowly made progress toward her destination, "but when you wake up, I'm still going to tell you to lay off the damn donuts. It's the principle of the thing. I'm sure you understand."

Then she grimaced. Joking at a time like this made her feel like she was whistling past the graveyard.

/God, how long have I been at this?/ Maya wondered.

It felt like she'd been dragging Misato through the half destroyed base for a very long time now, though it was more than possible her perception of time was a bit off at the moment. Even so, she didn't understand why the Champions hadn't shown up yet.

More importantly, she didn't know how much time Misato had left. Maya felt quite sure that a Kryptonian could come back from being clinically dead for far longer than a human could, but that didn't mean she wasn't working with a time limit.

After what felt like several hours more of dragging Misato along, Maya *finally* managed to reach the Kryptonian infirmary. Feeling completely wiped out, the brunette  knew there was simply no way she was getting Misato onto the exam table. Panting and sweating, she staggered over to the controls for the yellow sun lamps, switching them on. A golden glow immediately suffused the whole room.

Maya turned to look at Misato expectantly. Her shoulders drooped when several moments passed, and there was no visible change in the Kryptonian.

Feeling at a loss, she looked around and soon spotted a supped-up defibrillator, one that was no doubt meant for shocking Kryptonian hearts into beating again. She grabbed it and quickly lugged it over to Misato's side, taking a second to figure out how to make the thing work.

"Damn it, why didn't I pay more attention in the first aid classes they made me take back at Stingray?" she grumbled to herself.

Finally figuring out how it worked, she switched it on, and the device quickly started to release a high-pitched sound. Maya briefly tried to tear open Misato's shirt, only to find the material completely unyielding. With her arms feeling like they were made out of jelly, she didn't even think about trying to strip her. She just had to hope the material wouldn't completely block the electricity.

She almost shouted "Clear!" like doctors and EMTs would do on TV, before realizing that she and Misato were the only ones in the room.

The defibrillator discharged. Misato's body jolted.

Maya put her ear to the Kryptonian's chest, desperately searching for a heartbeat. She heard nothing.

The brunette grabbed the paddles again, administering yet another shock. Misato's body jumped. Maya pressed her ear to the larger woman's chest again. Still nothing.

"No, damn it, no," she breathed, reaching over to crank up the voltage on the defibrillator as high as it would go.

She moved to press the paddles to Misato's chest again.

Only to have a pair of small but extremely strong hands grab her wrists and stop her.

Maya looked up, seeing Super Asuka standing above her.

"What are you doing?" the former Ghostbuster demanded. "She's dying! Her heart's stopped!"

"If it did, it's started beating again," Valkyrie informed her curtly, easily taking the defibrillator away from the struggling brunette.

"No, it hasn't!" Maya insisted. "I've been checking. I couldn't hear it!"

"That's because you're human, and she's buff," Valkyrie said, rolling her eyes. "With Kryptonian muscle tissue being as dense as it is, you can't hear her heartbeat through it. But I can. She's alive."

As if to prove her point, Misato released a low groan, her eyes opening. She looked up at Maya with a half-lidded gaze.

"Misato!" Maya exclaimed. "It's gonna be okay. You're going to be all right."

"You should've let me die," Misato said softly.

Maya blinked. "What?" she asked. "What are you talking about?"

"It's Shinji," Misato whispered, eyes shining with tears. "My Shinji's dead."

(())

Hours later, the entire group found themselves in the Champions' headquarters, milling about a very spacious, and very specialized medical examination room. Once, the room had been much smaller, but it was quickly discovered that a normal-sized exam room really wasn't practical in this case. Not just because gamma mutants were among the regular patients, but also due to the fact that most, if not all of the team would often opt to wait there to see how a badly injured member was doing. In light of this, someone at the Stingray Industries corporate office had eventually signed off on plans to expand the place, so it was now really more a combination exam room and waiting room.

At the moment, though, it wasn't a member of the Champions that they were waiting to hear about, though the whole team *was* milling about as they awaited news of the patient's test results. Superwoman Misato sat on the padded exam table, silently gazing off into space.

"So, how's the whole cleanup situation going?" Maya asked Ranma softly, more to break the oppressive silence than because she really cared about those details.

Nabiki had somehow managed to pull enough strings to keep the military out of the area around Genom's secret base long enough for the Champions and their allies to get away, but the soldiers had moved in shortly after that. It was hard to imagine what they must've imagined, discovering the ruined subterranean facility and the massive level of destruction.

"Miss Stingray took charge as soon as she heard about the situation, and she's been working her magic," Ranma answered quietly, no more willing to break the hush in the room than she was. "None of the official records will even mention us. The public won't hear about what really happened, of course, but a lot of organizations are going to be putting a lot more effort into getting Genom than they were before. Rumor has it that Miss Stingray's deployed the Watchers."

"Of course, around here rumor puts the Watchers in about two dozen places at any give time," She-Hulk Misato commented dryly. "Still, things are definitely about to get very uncomfortable for Genom."

"Good," Maya said.

They lapsed back into silence after that. Mercifully, the door opened a few minutes later, and Nabiki rolled inside in her wheelchair, a manila folder on her lap.

"The test results came back?" Maya asked anxiously.

Nabiki nodded. "Yes," she said, coming to a stop and opening her folder. "I'm pleased to report that it looks like Superwoman Misato will be none the worse for the wear after her trip to the sun. Everything shows that her cells are discharging the excess solar energy with no harm to her physiology, and her strength is deceasing accordingly. She should be back to her usual power levels within a week. We don't expect her to suffer any ill effects."

Smiles broke out among the group, relieved smiles at knowing that Misato wasn't going to die as a result of her risky and desperate gambit earlier that day.

Misato herself, however, didn't smile. She barely reacted to the news that she was going to survive, and indeed, she seemed completely indifferent to it.

"I'll just be going now," Nabiki said. "I have work to do, and I'm sure you have things to…work out."

With that, she made a hasty retreat, leaving the Champions alone with the former Ghostbuster and the Kryptonian woman.

"If you two would like to stay here for a couple days, I'd be happy to arrange it," Ranma ventured after several long seconds of silence. "It would be a snap to set up, I'm sure."

"Thanks, but I can take Misato home with me," Maya said.

She didn't think it was a very good idea to linger around the happily reunited couples. Superman Gamma and Manhunter Hikari hadn't stopped holding hands since they'd escaped the impromptu war zone, and while Ranma was less obvious about it, it was clear enough to Maya that he very much wanted to spend some alone time with his wife.

"I understand," Ranma said. "I'll arrange for a car or something to take you two back to your place."

"Thanks," Maya said.

"Oh, and just to let you know, I plan to make an addendum to the Stingray database's file on you," he added.

"Thanks, I guess," the brunette replied, not really caring what the Stingray database said about her.

Ranma grinned impishly at her. "Don't thank me. I haven't even told you what it's going to say."

Maya rolled her eyes as he left the room. He might've been the most mature and least obnoxious Ranma alternate she'd ever encountered, but her opinion of Ranma in general still hadn't changed significantly.

"I know things didn't turn out the way you two were hoping it would," She-Hulk Misato addressed the two non-members as her husband left, "but without you, all our Kryptonian teammates and me would still be under that madman's control. We definitely owe you for that, and if you're ever in a jam, you can count on the Champions to help."

Maya gave a nod of thanks, while Superwoman Misato didn't respond at all.

Then She-Hulk Misato put a massive green hand on her Kryptonian counterpart's shoulder. "I can only imagine what you're going through," she said sympathetically. "If there's anything that I or any of the other Champions can do, please let us know."

Superwoman Misato nodded dully.

"Also, Ranma and I talked to Nabiki, and the offer of membership into the group is still open," She-Hulk Misato added. "If you ever want to join the Champions, we'll be pleased to have you. Even if you decide to stay a free agent, feel free to stop by any time if you want to talk, or spar, or even workout."

Superwoman Misato replied to this with another wordless nod, and a few moments later, Ranma returned to announce that the car was ready to take the two ladies back to Maya's junk shop.

(())

Several days later…



"No, I'm sorry, I'm really booked up right now," Maya said. "There's just no way I can take the job you're offering me, I'm afraid."

She then listened as the person on the other end of the line spoke for several seconds, putting her booted feet up onto her battered desk as she did so. She winced slightly at the squeak her chair let out in the process.

"I heard that an alternate of Montgomery Scott has gone into business as an independent contractor," Maya replied. "Maybe he would fit your needs. Good-bye."

The brunette sighed. That potential client had definitely been on the shady side, so she might've turned him down anyway, but that wasn't the only job she'd declined recently. Contrary to what she'd said, her professional calendar was completely blank at the current moment.

Her gaze flicked over to the Kryptonian woman who'd been sharing her home since the attack on the Genom base. Apparently, Shinji Ikiryo and Misato had not maintained any permanent residence of their own, and the Kryptonian didn't really have any place to go at the moment.

Maya wouldn't have minded, except that Misato remained firmly entrenched in her bleak depression. All she did all day was sit on the still broken cot (Maya had purchased a new one for herself) and stare silently out into space. The only time the former Ghostbuster had heard her speak since returning to the junk shop was when she'd suggested that perhaps Misato should consider seeing a therapist, which the Kryptonian had flatly refused to do.

Thanks to the diamond Misato had made for her, Maya's finances were in good order, and would remain so for quite a while into the foreseeable future. Yet that didn't mean she wanted to look after the depressed Kryptonian all the time, either. And she was afraid *not* to look after Misato when she was in this state.

/If this goes on for very long, I'll have to contact the Champions and ask them to take her to Iron Haven or someplace./ The brunette thought grimly.

A chime from her laptop brought the former Ghostbuster out of her thoughts. She had an email.

Going over to her computer, she was more than a little surprised to see that the message's sender had blocked their email address somehow.

"If this is another sentient computer virus…" she grumbled to herself as she clicked on it.

Fortunately, no malicious software started uploading itself as soon as she opened the email. Instead, it contained nothing but regular old text. Maya's eyes widened as she read the short message.

"Misato, I think you're going to want to see this," she said. "It looks like we might just have a lead on Hikawa."

"What?" the Kryptonian demanded, shaking off her stupor.