GOOD/EVIL
Part 37-A
By Star


They stood across the street surveying the building Raven was being held in.

Gene's grip tightened on Lily, his thoughts drifting to Gena. He still couldn't 
believe she was working with E.V.I.L, or that she had been programmed by them.  
It didn't sit well with him. In all the years he had known her she had always come 
across as one of the strongest women he knew. No, he wouldn't believe it until 
he saw it with his own eyes.
He said softly "It looks like we're a little late getting to the party."

Ace surveyed the structural damage of the building, grinning at Paul "God damn I 
wish I had Stephanie's powers. She sure knows how to redecorate a place."

Paul closed his eyes after studying the damage. There was no doubt in his mind 
Stephanie had caused the damage.  "So much for going in silently and swiftly." 
Paul muttered, telling himself that he was going to have to have a little talk to 
Stephanie about her inability to obey orders.

Peter said softly "Raven's okay. The damage didn't hurt her. If it had I'd know, I'd 
feel it, feel the effects."

Paul gave him an annoyed look "Stephanie would never risk hurting Raven."

"I know that. I'm just saying she's safe, being protected."

"Yes but who's protecting them. Gena could still be on the loose, and you've 
seen her powers." Bruce said softly.

Eric nodded silently in agreement. 

Ace studied the damage again, wondering how safe it was to venture into the 
building. He shrugged his fears aside. Ana was in there. He wasn't going to stand 
by and let her get hurt, now or ever.

"What shall we do with her?" Gene asked, nodding his head to the frightened Lily 
he still held.

"Keep her. We still might need her." Peter answered, staring at the building again 
"Raven's safe and she's being protected. That's enough for me."

"Yes but who's protecting the girls," Ace muttered, as they began to walk towards 
the building.

"I don't like this." Gene growled, adding "Not one damn bit."

***

"The guys are here?" Stephanie asked softly.

//Yes, and they're not happy// Shandi answered.

"I bet." Stephanie muttered staring at the mice Raven was softly talking to. "She 
couldn't have made friends with something else, no she had to choose mice. I 
hate mice."

Raven heard her, and looked up with a soft smile "They won't hurt you. They're 
my friends."

Stephanie turned her attention to the still unconscious Gena draped over 
Amadeus. 

Tiger touched her arm "She'll be okay. Hitting her with the wall was the only thing 
we could do to stop her from turning on us. Unconscious we can control her. 
Conscious there is the possibility she would have been too strong for us."

Raven stared at Stephanie "You hit her with the wall on purpose?" She was 
surprised by her friend's actions.

Stephanie nodded "Tiger's right. I couldn't take the risk of her turning on us. Or 
maybe I just didn't want to face the fact she might. Hopefully by the time she 
comes to, we'll be away from here, and she can explain her actions to us."

Raven nodded "The sooner I get back to Peter the safer I'll feel."

SLK grimaced "You might be reunited with him sooner than you think: they're 
here."

"You brought the guys here? What if it had been a trap?" Raven asked, her 
thought sliding to Peter and images of him being tortured by Buttercup. Were the 
images real or just her imagination? She shuddered at the thought they might be 
real.

"No." Stephanie hissed out impatiently, "They were planning on coming to the 
rescue and we thought about it being a trap and decided to leave them behind. 
Something they're not going to be happy about."

"So it would seem." Tiger murmured, as she studied the approaching men.

"It was for their own good." Ana inserted, adding "We couldn't let them risk their 
lives for Raven. Surely they will see that?"

Stephanie snorted delicately "Not likely."

***

Gene stared in horror at an unconscious Gena, as they approached the females.  
"What have you done to her?" He growled, his eyes darkening in fury.

"She's okay, just unconscious. We couldn't take the risks of her turning on us." 
Tiger said soothingly, adding "The sooner we get her back to the hotel the 
better."

Gene swept his furious gaze over the girls "Which one of you did this to her? I 
want to know…no I demand to know!"

Raven said softly "They had no choice. Something's wrong with Gena Gene. The 
things I saw…what she was doing." She broke off, her eyes closing as the 
images of Gena and the Drow swept through her mind.

"I want to know who did this?" Gene demanded.

Richard said softly "Does it matter? Combined our powers would have killed her. 
We couldn't take that risk."

*

Peter knelt down to where Raven still sat, wrapping his arms around her "I'm just 
glad you're safe. The sooner we get out of here the better. This place gives me 
the creeps." 
He jumped slightly when a small voice murmured "Can't breathe."

Raven pulled away from Peter, staring down at her lap with an apologetic smile 
"I'm sorry."

Peter followed her gaze, startled to see a dozen mice staring back at him. "What 
the hell?"

"They protected me, saved me from Herr Doktor." Raven said softly, adding, "If 
they hadn't…I surely would have been caught by him."

Peter gifted Raven with a smile, extending his smile to the mice "In that case I 
guess they've got a place to stay with us."

Raven kissed him quickly, adding in a low voice "There are some things I need to 
tell you about my gift…they're different."

Peter nodded "We'll discuss them once we're out of here."

*


Ace wrapped his arms around Ana "Are you alright?"

She nodded, leaning into his arms "This place is cold."

He kissed her head gently "I know. I want to get out of here too. I'm going to go 
ahead and guess Shandi also had a hand in this?"

Ana nodded, turning to talk to all the men "We couldn't send you in knowing that 
there might have been a trap set for you. We just couldn't, and you shouldn't ever 
have to ask us to do that."

*

Paul stared at a silent Stephanie "I suppose you planned this little sneak attack?"

"Maybe." She said, adding belligerently "Don't expect me to be sorry about it. I 
wasn't going to risk Buttercup catching you, or any other members of Kiss. None 
of us were."

"So you went in full steam ahead without thinking about your own safety." He 
chided her, drawing her close to him.

She shrugged "We had protection. Our Beast-mistress here had the hound from 
Baskerville and her pegasus. Jessi helped us to get to where we were, and 
Shandi was also watching out for us."

//And do I get a thank you for that…nooooooo// Shandi broke in.

Stephanie grinned, "Thank you."

Paul shook his head "I still think I'm going to have to have a little discussion with 
you about disobeying me."

*

SLK frowned when Sappho began barking wildly "I don't think we're alone 
anymore." She said loudly, breaking couples apart.
She turned to Amadeus "Take Gena back to the hotel and to Cyn. She can heal 
the head wound Gena has. Make sure someone is there at all times watching 
her. We'll get back as soon as possible."

"Someone else should go back with them. Ana I think you should." Ace said, 
adding quickly "You've got the ability to change, and protect the girls if Gena 
comes to, and we're going to need that." Before Ana could argue he added "And 
don't ask why me and not you I'm needed here. I can teleport everyone out of 
here if it gets rough."

Bruce added, "I'll go back with Ana. We'll need double protection if Gena wakes 
up."

Ana took a deep breath, nodding as she began to change shape. Ace watched 
fascinated as he watched first Ana change shape and then Bruce.

Gene studied his opponents, before saying hurriedly "Change of plans I'll take 
Gena back to the hotel while you fight." He watched the protests rising on the 
group's face and added, "I can control her.  It's safer this way."  He took the 
unconscious Gena off the Pegasus, his large wings of fire suddenly appearing.

Stephanie ducked quickly, as he turned to nod towards them "I wish he'd watch 
where he swings those things." She muttered, as she watched him fly away with 
Gena.

Raven closed her eyes as Buttercup's henchmen advanced on them with guns. 
She smiled as voices began to whisper to her again, and she began to chant 
softly.

The henchmen looked stunned when their weapons were suddenly lifted from 
their hands and turned on them.

Stephanie turned to see Raven chanting, before turning back to stare at the guns 
pointed at the henchmen.  Smiling she narrowed her eyes dangerously, and 
swept her hand, her smile widening when the henchmen followed in the direction 
of her hand. They slammed against the wall, crumpling into a heap.

"You've been practicing." Paul said softly, and she shrugged "I think I'm getting 
the hang of it now. It's all about using my emotions."  She grinned at Raven "Nice 
move."

Raven nodded her head "Told you I wasn't useless."