The next jump happened a few jumps after the one I told about in the last entry.
I fell out of the rip in realities and landed hard in the middle of a seemingly deserted battle filed. I started to push myself up but had to stop when I felt the cold steel of a gun barrel presses against the back of my neck.
"Don't make any sudden moves," a deep voice commanded. "Move your knees underneath yourself and slowly stand. Keep your hands where I can see them."
I did as told, not really in the mood to die.
"Now turn around."
I turned and blinked in surprise at who was holding the powerful gun to my head.
"Donatello?!" I asked in surprise, wide eyes taking in the fatigues and assortment of weaponry he wore.
"D...Diana?! B...but you're..." he stammered, lowering his gun.
We both instinctively hit the ground when explosions went off on either side of us.
"Follow me!" Don shouts, "and stay low!"
I nodded as we ran, sort of crouched over to what I thought was just another foxhole. Once we ducked down, however, and I turned to Don, I saw him pressing a few buttons on a remote and a door slid open. He then motioned for me to follow and leapt feet first into the opening. Once he was clear of it, I followed, yelping in surprise when I started sliding. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this carnival-like ride. It seemed that the polished metal walls took an eternity to rush by me. At the end of the mad ride, there was a huge mat waiting to catch us. I landed by Don with a soft "oof".
I heard a shocked gasp and looked up through the curls that feel into my face at the slender woman with long, greenish black hair, bound into a tail, jet black eyes and a silver naginata at her side. She looked as if she had just seen a ghost. I blinked when I recognized her from the only other reality I'd seen her in.
"Doctor Charon?"
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she brought the naginata down, tucked the top under my chin and tipped my head up to get a better look at me. I could feel the sharp blade mere inches from my throat.
"You are not our Diana. Who are you and what are you doing here?" Power resonated in her voice.
"Well, ah...I am Diana Manashevitz," I felt her tense through the positioning of the weapon and continued hastily, "but not the one from this reality."
She raised a brow and brought the weapon back to a neutral position. I sighed in relief and stood as she said to Don, "That would explain the time/space disturbance that your instruments picked up and my mother felt."
He nodded. "Hai." He turned to me. "That still doesn't explain why you're here," he comments as he eyes up my torn and stained clothing. They started out as a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but by then were nothing more than rags.
"I'm really just passing through, trying to find my way home, but I need to rebuild the energy used when hopping between realities."
"If you pull your weight," a smooth, rumbling voice spoke up, "you can stay with us."
The man who joined us was tall and broad chested with long silver hair that fell in a braid to his shoulder blades.
"Kunzite?" I guessed.
He shook his head. "Malachite."
I nodded, having the feeling that he and the woman had been in telepathic contact this whole time.
"It looks as if you've been in battle before," he states, eyeing my muscular body and numerous scars before showing me the blaster he had slung over his shoulder. "Do you know how to use one of these?"
"Iie...I've only used my body, my sword, magic and other classic weapons."
"Classic weapons?"
"Nanchaku, boe, jo, bow and arrows, sai, naginata, tonfas...those types of classic weapons. Last reality, I learned how to fire a rifle, but nothing of the magnitude you're talking about."
He nodded. "Then you will learn. I hear you know Donatello and I. Who else do you know?"
"Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Jadeite, Zoisite, Nephrite, Naru and HLM. I've met her," I nodded to the silent woman, "only once before, and she was a doctor in that reality."
The silver haired man nodded. "Here she is Commander Obsidian. She, Nephrite and I lead this army. She's in charge of training, so she will be the one teaching you about our weaponry and testing your skill level. Nephrite and I are in charge of tactics and assignments. Jadeite is head of the medic core. He'll be examining you and treating any injury you have. Zoisite is in charge of all civilian matters, while HLM is field leader of our sister squadron to the east."
I nodded as he paused, a pensive expression on his face. "Ah...Jadeite is being warned about you as we speak...I should warn you about him."
I blinked. "...warn me?"
He nodded. "You and he were married, and he has twin boys by you...or rather, your counterpart." He sighs a little bit and shakes his head slightly, icy eyes unreadable. "You...your counterpart...died two months ago to the day. We are all still in mourning. Especially Jadeite."
"I...see," I responded after a moment. "Ah...since this has to be extremely painful for all of you...perhaps I should try another jump..."
He shakes his head. "Iie...your energy reserves are too low. Just...be aware of the situation."
"I'll tread lightly." I looked down, unsure of how to react. "I'm sorry for your loss..."
He nodded before he turned stiffly to leave. I looked between Don and Obsidian, uncomfortable.
Obs sighed softly. "Come, we'll get you some clothing and fill you in while you get cleaned up."
I learned that this entire situation is really a civil war. The government had issued all sorts of laws and regulations against mutants and other beings not human or with powers. Needless to say, the mutant community struck back with a vengeance. At that point, both sides were dead even.
I'd been given the same fatigues that everyone wore and was waiting in the waiting area for Jadeite to be ready to examine me. When he finally came out and saw me sitting there on the rickety chair in my fatigue pants, combat boots and black tank top, running my hands self-consciously over my scarred arms, I thought he was going to have a heart attack or something.
He covered his shocked, grief stricken expression with a coldness that was more fitting on anyone else.
"Come with me, please," he said, turning and walking to the examination room. I, of course, followed.
The examination went quickly and overly properly. The only snag hit was when he asked about all of my scars. He obviously didn't like the explanation.
After the examination came the testing of my abilities, done by both Obsidian and the turtles. It was there that I learned the turtles were the heads of secret operations. I was placed specifically in defense of the medics and civilians. To my great discomfort, this unit was headed by my counterpart until her death.
Over the next several days, I trained non-stop. Save for food, sleep and bathing, the only things I did were learn about the martial technology and hone what skills I already had, as well as add whatever new ones I could. I never met Jadeite's children during this time. After about a week, I was put out in the battle field, guarding over Jae and a few other medical personnel who had to go to another outpost to do some emergency surgery.
My commander was leading the group, there was a soldier to the right and a soldier to the left. I was bringing up the rear.
We were about halfway there, doing our best to go unnoticed in the cover of night, when I saw the bright red dot of laser light on Jae's back.
"Get down!" My shout broke the eerie silence as I turned, pushing Jae to safety, aiming and firing my blaster at the source of the laser. There was a pained cry as the would be assassin went down just before his partner opened fire and agony spread through my chest. I fell with an enraged scream, right before darkness claimed me.
When next I awoke, I was in a field hospital, lying in a cot with one bandage wrapped around my chest, right below my breasts and another around my right shoulder. I groaned softly at the pain and slowly opened my eyes. I could barely see the blurred image of Jae in blood stained scrubs slumped in a sleep beside my cot. I closed my eyes, too a deep breath and winced at the sharp pains that invoked.
"Take it easy, Diana," I hear Jae's voice say softly. I opened my eyes to look into depressed, concerned blue eyes. "We had to take three bullets out of you. You're very lucky to be alive."
"Thank you," I whispered.
"You're welcome. And thank you for saving our lives."
I smiled weakly and whispered, "You're welcome, too." I paused. "How many times was I hit?"
"Three. Once here," he pointed to a spot almost directly over his heart, but just below. "Here," he pointed directly to the center of his chest, "and here." He pointed to his right shoulder.
"Damn," I whispered, closing my eyes again, disturbed at how week I feel, a tear escaping from one of my eyes at the pain. A gentle hand brushes it away, staying to soothingly stroke my cheek.
"You lost a lot of blood, l.." he pauses, catching himself. "Diana." The soothing touch left, and I opened my eyes. His are filled with tears, lines of devastating pain etched into his face.
"Jae," I whispered, reaching over with my left hand to take his, and gazed up at him until he could look at me again. "I'm sorry...I know how she died...and...that my even being here must hurt like hell."
She'd been shot several times in the gut, while protecting him only weeks after the babies were born. This was before the complex was fully underground. The fighting was so fierce that he couldn't get her to his tools. While the war raged around them, a man held the mother of his children and woman of his dreams as she bled slowly and painfully to death. He had the knowledge of how to let her live, but was helpless to do anything to save her. That man sat at my bedside, holding my hand, sobbing after over two months of pained silence. I'm sure he was wishing to whatever cruel gods there were that I was his doomed Diana, not one from some far away reality. I'm sure he cried until long after exhaustion clamed by battered body.
I spent two weeks recovering, during which time the sword began escalating its pull on me, and the mutant/government war swung into the favor of the mutants. Peace talks began.
Everyone was looking forward to the end of this horrible war, yet I still had the feeling the killing and suffering in this world was far from over.
With a few more days of rehabilitation, I was ready to return to work. We were heading back to the main complex. The fighting was especially vicious that day for some reason.
I was picking enemies off left and right, as were the others guarding the medical staff, so when Jae cried out in pain and fell into me, I was surprised.
"Jae! What...?" I trailed off when I saw the crimson blood spreading over his chest. I caught him the best I could and dragged him to a wall, supporting him as his two collogues examined and did what they could for him, while my three colleagues defended us.
I looked into the violet eyes of the lavender skinned woman tending to him, my own eyes desperate. She shook her head slightly, solemnly, her expression as bleak as her partner's.
"Oh, gods," I whispered, looking down at Jae and holding him gently, lovingly.
"Diana-chan," he muttered softly, brilliant blue eyes gazing up at me.
"H...hai...I'm here, koibito," I tell him, stroking his face and hair with a shaking hand.
"I thought I'd lost you, my love," he whispered, brows wrinkling in slight confusion.
"Iie...iie...you never lost me...it was just a horrible nightmare..."
"Oh," his brows smooth. "I'm sorry I have to leave you." A tear made its way down his cheek.
"Don't worry, love. I'll be waiting for you when you get home."
"Ok. I know you'll make sure the twins get everything they need," he smiled weakly. "They're both so beautiful..."
"Hai," I barely kept my voice from cracking. Those boys were going to be orphans now. "I'll make sure they're happy..."
"Good. I know I could trust you." He looked up at me with dying eyes. "One for the road?"
"Sure." I leaned over and pressed my lips to his, hoping with all my heart that I was making this at least a little easier on him.
When I pulled back, he smiled up at me. "I love you," he whispered softly as his lungs began to give out.
"I love you, too," I whispered in return, just before the last glimmer of light faded from his eyes. With a broken sigh, I closed the beautiful, now empty eyes and held him close. Through my helpless sobs, I didn't even realize the shooting had stopped. The war was over.
After Jae's funeral, I made sure that his children would be well cared for. Zoisite, female in this reality, and Malachite had adopted the little boys. There was no doubt in my mind that they'd be well loved, and would know everything they'd need to about their biological parents.
By now, the sword's pull had become painful, and I really had to leave.
Before me stood the four turtles as well as Malachite, holding one of the babies, Zoisite, holding the other, Nephrite, Obsidian and HLM, who'd shown up for her friend's funeral.
I'm in full armor, a liability when trying not to be a target, and my sword was unsheathed. Nephrite rested a hand on my shoulder.
"May the stars protect you, Diana," he told me. "We wish you could stay with us longer. All of us need to do some healing."
I nodded. "Hai. I wish I could stay longer, too. Take care of yourselves."
"You, too."
I smiled a little and gave them all a farewell wave and salute. Each of them returned the salute as I sliced through reality and stepped through the portal.
Journal Entry Three
Journal Entry Five
Pain and Learning
Index
