Fiction   Phoenix Force History Part Two by Polaris     "Proteus!" the woman with green hair shouted. "Proteus! Please! Answer me!" Polaris was near hysterical. She had been separated from her brother for too long, she was not going to lose him again. Her petite form seemed even smaller in contrast with the hulking mass of destroyed buildings surrounding her. Almost falling to the ground in exhaustion, Polaris rested her pointed ears on a nearby boulder, tears cutting a pathway through the soot on her face. If Spackle hadn't known any better, this could have been a mere child laying in front of him, she seemed so small and insignificant laying there. But he knew much better than that. "Darlin', I wish I had the words t' soothe you, I really do, but you're gonna have to face it.... Proteus just might be ... well, we might just not see him aroun' again..." Try as he might, Spackle couldn't find the words needed to comfort his agonizing teammate. As members of Shield of Valor, (hah! Or what was left of it, at any rate, Spackle thought), they had immediately rushed to Atlas Park where Lord Recluse had mounted his initial attack. None of them were prepared for what had happened. Fighting valiantly alongside Paragon's numerous other heroes and groups, no amount of effort seemed large enough to make a visible dent in Recluse's armies. The siblings Proteus One and Polaris One, formerly thought themselves lost to each other forever when Polaris accidentally found herself transported across dimensions and displaced from her home-world, had recently been reunited through an odd twist of fate. It was a strange day when Polaris, tending her duties in Shield of Valor, had the impossible feeling of his presence. All creatures in their home-world are empathic by nature, the ability to feel each other's emotions and psyches, as well as mend each others wounds and spirits through sheer force of unified will. To be wrenched apart again was a thought that Polaris could not abide, could not handle, and so she slumped. In the midst of the battle against Arachnos, Lord Recluse had pulled his trump card, and had effectively "shut down" the heroes' powers. Just when things couldn't have been worse, the outcome for Paragon City had never looked more gruesome. Without her powers, which had mutated ever so slightly in this non-empathic world, Polaris could no longer feel her brother's empathic presence. Even now, without their powers restored, she could not be certain he was alive or dead. "Little one, I know what it's like to be displaced, away from your family and your peers." Came the deep, bassy voice of Onus Vox. "Try to keep your faith. Your brother is a valiant soldier, and thus we must trust he is safe." "Thank you Spackle, Vox, I know you mean well. I just wish that I could feel his presence one more ti..." and as she spoke these words, like a cloud being shifted away from the sun, her powers returned! "I can feel him!" Polaris exclaimed. "He's here! And close!" "Well let's get crackin' darlin'! Point us in the right direction!" Spackle was ecstatic to see Polaris' spirits raised, even if just a little. "This way, follow me." Polaris led them winding through the smoky heaps of rubble that lay scattered all around. They walked through what would have been an alleyway, had the two buildings on either side still been standing. "My word, this destruction..." was all Polaris could manage to choke out. Regardless of the empathic imprint she felt, it was hard to believe Proteus could survive devastation of this magnitude. "I hope he's safe." Even as the thoughts crossed her mind, she saw a figure, a mere silhouette of a man in the swirling smoke, but an instantly recognizable figure nonetheless. "Proteus! You.... You're alive! Oh, thank the gods that be, thank you!" Polaris wept, throwing herself into Proteus' arms, but slightly withdrew when she noticed him wincing in pain. "Fear not, little sister, but be careful. I believe this arm is a still a little tender," he said, holding up his right arm, whose elbow was bending at an odd angle. "My regenerative powers have yet to fully be restored, and as such I have not been able to completely repair my wounds yet." "Here, let me help you," Polaris said, standing back. "I can speed this process along." Polaris' and Proteus' empathic natures had carried over with them when they made the jump from their dimension to this one, but in very different ways. Proteus called himself the "broken empath", because while he still could repair wounds, he was limited to healing his own. Polaris, on the other hand, was not only able to heal minor afflictions, but if she gave of herself, could also cure much more serious ailments! It was dangerous for her though, as she took on the pain of the other to more completely heal. Still, it was a sacrifice she was always willing to make. Such was her nature. "Now missy, don't you think I'm going to let you take all the glory today!" Spackle butted in. He had been waiting for his moment to say something, but didn't want to ruin this reunion. Spackle invariably had something to say. Such was his nature. But he could always be counted on as a friend. With powers and body quirks similar to Polaris' own, Polaris had often thought if maybe more of her kind had been "accidentally" finding themselves mystically transported here for centuries. Perhaps Spackle was descendant from her own race? It was a thought worth pursuing, but not at this time. "You put on a quite a show earlier darlin', and I know what that means for you and your health. Not to mention that since you've joined up with ol' SoV, you've been stealing a little bit o' my thunder! So sit back and let ol' Spack take care of the rest!" And with that, Spackle marched up to Proteus and grabbed him by his arm. A faint, ambient mint green aura started emanating from Spackle's embrace, growing quickly stronger and a deeper green, till Proteus' whole body was sheathed in emerald light! Stepping back, the aura fading from Proteus, Spackle, Onus, and Polaris could see that his arm now seemed complete, no injury left at all! "Thank you kindly Spackle. You are a true friend," Proteus stated serenely. The healing effect tended to leave people in a slightly euphoric, although brief, state. "Shucks, you know it's nothin'" Spackle chuckled. "Not to curtail your reunion Polaris, but I feel it's best if we push on now," Onus grumbled in his gravelly voice. "We must seek other survivors from Shield of Valor. In fact, seeking survivors in general may be a good idea. Who knows what's left after this ... this..." And Onus was a loss for words. For words could not accurately describe the setting which laid before them.