The Heros are NEAR (IC)

[Supercape]

Supercape prised open his white knuckles from the arm rest of his seat.

"Ah, safe and sound, excellent, never had a moments doubt, of course!" he breathed out.

breathe in, breathe out... breathe in, breathe out...

He was awfully glad his costume was able to absorb sweat.

Victories piloting skill, Blueshifts jury rigging, and Doctor Archeville's secret base. All conspiring to save their skins. It was only now, after flexing his own mighty quantum powers, he realised that the implosion of the asteroid had freed up his own ability to entangle the time space continuum.

"I do believe" he said, rather ashamed of himself "that I am now able to provide some transportation via quantum mechanics, a simple entanglement of two points in the multiverse, as I normally do. The asteroid is no longer disrupting the quantum field..." he glanced at the scratched and scorched ship.

"That's a little too big, I confess..." he added, with an apologetic shrug. "I guess Victory has some more flying to do. Although after his performance back there, I doubt there is much left to challenge him. "

[Quinn]

"...Ow."

Push blinked his eyes open, feeling a distinct sensation akin to every one of his nerve endings having been lightly daubed with acid. Burning, lots of burning; and where there wasn't burning, there was a dull throb. Another headache, too; this one'd probably stick around for a while. A nod was all he could manage to Dok as the master of science made his kind comment, the mutant screwing his eyes shut as he brought himself back under control. Senses were still good, field brought back safe, but a small attempt to tap a nearby kinetic field caused stars to fill his vision. He gritted his teeth as Dok hit the lights, the brightness going through his eyelids, and the headache swelled up further. Victory's shoulder-pat registered, and as his mind processed it, all he heard of Blueshift was a small murmur in one ear. Sighing, he then caught the end of her sentence as he hauled himself up. Pain later, work now. Pain later, work now.

"Mph. More was Victory flying, just bounced off some smaller stuff. No biggie...but thanks."

The kineticist kept himself walking, willing one foot in front of the other, and walked with glacial precision down the ramp into the hangar. Squinting at the lights, Push took a moment to look about the place. Something struck him as...off. Two years' worth of a steady diet of paranoia creeped into his mind, questions arising in his mental landscape. Most important was where was this place, another important one was what was this place; for some reason he was heavily reminded of a bolt-hole, heaven knew he'd busted enough sorcerer's versions' doors down to know the feeling. Secret hangar in a hidden asteroid far away from Earth? Hinky didn't even begin to describe it...he filed the thoughts away for future rumination, plastering a neutral expression on his face as he tried to keep up with Victory and the Doktor.

"How's the damage?"

[Dr Archeville]

"An excellent question!," the Doktor exclaimed. "Computer, beginnen Diagnosescan!"

Dozens of beams of light, in a rainbow of colors, lanced out from the walls and ceiling, mapping out first the external structure of the plane. Simultaneously, radio waves and ultrasonic pulses mapped the interior of the structure, finding all the nicks and cracks and other damages, based on the schematics for the Pegasus spaceplanes Archeville had already uploaded to his systems, which were displayed on a small monitor off to one side of the hangar. The only exit from which was one narrow corridor, leading into darkness.

Major Factor has done an exemplary job on this little adventure. I shall have to put in a good word for him!

"Well, good news and bad news," Archeville said at last. "Good news is, none of the individual damages are major. Bad news is, there are a multitude of minor damages, which all combine into one major problem. Think of it as like there being thousands of pinhole leaks throughout the entire craft. Fortunately, I have -- well, should have -- everything here needed to fix them, or at least patch them well enough that we will be able to get back to Earth." He flashed an enthusiastic smile, and gave two thumbs up.

[quotemyname]

"She's a beautiful ship," Blueshift said, caressing the frame of the door as she walked through it and down the ramp. "But Doc's right. She's messed up. Can't let that stand. Doc, you've got tools. I've got spare hands. Mind if I help with repairs? Should go faster." She turned to regard the ship once more, "Big enough. Both work simultaneously? Won't be in each other's way, even."

Hands on her hips, she planted her feet, "Gonna make this thing shine!"

[JackgarPrime]

When Victory is outside, he smiles, giving the hull a pat with his metal hand, causing a small clanging sound to echo in the room.

"Good work, girl. You rest while we fix ya up best we can."

As he turns to face the rest, he catches Supercape's compliment, and shakes his head.

"Nah, I just got lucky. This was the first time I've flown a craft out in zero-g. Honestly, I wasn't sure if it was going to work out or not. Of course, if it were just me, it wouldn't have. Fortunately, we have the right variety of skills on board, eh?" Victory gives Push and Blueshift silent nods, then walks over to Dok.

"Looks like you made the right casting call.", Victory says with his hand outstretched. However, when his handshake offer is accepted, he leans in, with a whisper.

"So...are you going to tell me about your little setup here, Herr Doktor? Or is this going to have to be another one of those convenient black spots on my recording software?"

[Supercape]

"Nah, I just got lucky. This was the first time I've flown a craft out in zero-g. Honestly, I wasn't sure if it was going to work out or not. Of course, if it were just me, it wouldn't have. Fortunately, we have the right variety of skills on board, eh?"

"Luck, yes, yes. And I suppose the more you practice and train at flying, the luckier you get, eh?" replied Supercape sagely and with a smile.

He stretched his legs around Archevilles secret hide out, marvelling at the design, and at one point drawing his finger across the surfaces to check for dust.

"Spiffing place you have here, Squire. Very elegant. Classic with a modern twist, as they say. The mind marvels at the engineering requirements, and transportation needs. How did you do it?"

Irrespective, Supercape was most glad the Doctor had. The pitstop had saved the ship.

[Dr Archeville]

"I will tell you, Victory," the Doktor whispered back, "but I would prefer it if this did not show on any recordings."

"So," he began as he pulled away from the AEGIS cyborg, "this is my little secret home-away-from home, Nichtuberall, which would translate as 'Not Anywhere.' It is inside one of the asteroids in the belt between Mars and Jupiter, is completely self-contained, and until now, I was the only person on Earth who knew of its existence. This 'hangar' -- more properly a theoretical laboratory with holographic modeling capabilities -- is approximately half the entire facility. The rest is quarters, a well-stocked library, and an automated kitchen, which you are all free to use while Blueshift and I work."

You know, there are worse circumstances under which this place could be discovered. And without it, we would all have been doomed!

"I would prefer, of course," he said as he flew up to the plane and began removing panels, "that you four keep this place a secret. I am a very public figure, and this is about the only place I have where I can get away for a few moments of privacy."

A mere four hours later, Blueshift and Doktor Archeville's superhuman technical skills had completed the repairs to the Pegasus spaceplane, and soon (after the Doktor used his Gravimetric Belt to teleport them all out) they were on their way back to Earth.

~fin~