Battle for Earth

Better than you know

Athena had spent the night at a place too familiar to her. It was a place of often salvation and a place she could escape. It was a homeless shelter not too far from Times Square and it was the closest thing Abigail had as a home when she was nine. It was often a place where they opened up to her because the volunteers there knew about her foster mom committing suicide and what she was put through with the legal system. Abigail actually knew a couple of people from the foster system that had aged out of the foster system.

The Ones hadn't visited her that night. It confused her, but she figured it was because she was on Earth.

Athena made up the story that she came back to New York as a foster kid still and she was going through some tough times. She wished everyone there a Merry Christmas and went back onto the streets. She had gotten directions to an automobile shop not too far away from where she hoped to retrieve a really cheap car that was abandoned by the owner.

Though, she decided to postpone the trip to the shop as she wanted to catch up with...an old friend. Athena knelt down on the cold ground in front of a gravestone as she held a sorrow in her heart. On the stone, it read:

Erica Baker

 April 17, 1970-Jan. 1, 2011

"Hey, it's me..." Athena softly spoke to her deceased foster mom. "I know I haven't come back in a while...Merry Christmas."

Athena let out a half-hearted chuckled.

"I know you wouldn't believe me...but...I'm training to be a Jedi. Isn't that crazy? I even found my biological brother and I kinda know about my birth parents...crazy, huh?"

Athena then rambled on about everything. Going from meeting the crew, going through Mexico with Rae, everything she did with the rebels, and up to the point that she woke up on Earth.

"Are you proud? I'm doing something with my life...I guess that counts..." Athena sniffled a tear away. "I guess I you were right. I do have so much to live for..."

Athena placed a hand on the ground before the stone. She concentrated and brought her hand up as a light began to form around the palm of Athena's hand and she raised it. A green stem soon grew from the soil and a beautiful blue aster flower on the top of the stem. Athena stared with slight pride, mostly sorrow and regret in her, as she stared at the flower.

"I didn't bring flowers, but I hope that making it counts. I'll get used to it," Athena choked up on words as she kneeled before the grave.

Athena stayed there for minutes until she stood and wiped her moist left eye. She felt something odd. Something tickled the back of her mind and she instinctively grabbed her lightsaber from her hoodie's pocket.

Soon enough, her suspicions were confirmed when she quickly turned around to see a shadow of a figure. A haint almost.A literal shadow. It was unlike anything Athena saw before. It was like looking at a man. But, it was all shadow. It was definitely 3-D as it stood in front of Athena. The shadow was quite tall, well over six feet tall. It stood only a meter away.

Athena had no time to even swing her blue-purple blades at the shadow before it quickly lunged at her. The shadow then took ahold of Athena's wrist and threw her across the cemetery a good twenty feet before she rolled on the ground. Athena's lightsaber blades deactivated as the lightsaber laid next to her.

Athena's head had severely hit the cement walkway and she felt as if she were about to puke as she curled up.

The shadow walked towards Athena as she laid on the ground. Then, the figure seemed to freeze and struggled to move its limbs as it seemed to have something restraining it. Athena watched the shadow then be lifted into the air as its feet dangled. A single red blade soon was airborne like a spear and pierced through the shadow. The shadow disappeared with a cloud of black smoke.