Heroes Collide

Cason

Cason laughed as he laid on the ground his head resting on his backpack as Natalie examined the pod, which was now laying on the ground sideways thanks to his amazing powers. He had filled her in on what they were calling "The Collision" and how several different timelines and realities had been crushed together and formed an entirely different alternate universe throwing random people down to the planet's surface. Natalie seemed to be understanding most of what he had said. He'd learned that she was an alien from another planet and that it was destroyed. Kind of a sad story for such a nice girl. She didn't remember much else so Cason proposed a game to help her remember where they both take turns asking and answering questions, while she tried to piece together what happened to her. "Okay. It's your turn. Shoot me!"

Natalie chuckled as she looked through the contents of a bag she found in the pod. "Alright. If you decided to try a cape or cowl superhero life, what would your name be?"

Cason sat up and grinned. "Oh! I would call myself Crusher!"

Natalie chuckled. "Like from Star Trek, right?"

Cason nodded. "Except I am pretty sure people love me more than Wil Wheaton. No offense to him or anything."

Natalie grinned as she spotted something she could actually understand in the file. "Okay. I think I found something..."

Cason scooted over next to her and looked over her shoulder. "Is this the company that made the pod?"

Natalie nodded. "It says it was made by LutherCorp. Do you know who runs that?"

"I don't remember anything about a LutherCorp... I do know someone named Luther though. He was a friend from high school."

Natalie studied the paper. "Do you think he could help me out?"

Cason shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen him since before I got here. I am pretty sure that isn't even his real name. I sent him a Facebook request and haven't heard anything since."

"Well... There goes that idea." Natalie trailed off as she scraped the paper a little. "Oh! It's not Luther. It's Luthor. Probably should have made that connection sooner."

Cason laughed. "I definitely know a Luthor. She helped invent these." He showed her his sleeve monitor, which to Natalie looked like a small flexible computer screen wrapped around his arm by a velcro... But then again, she thought that was what it was supposed to look like.

"I know a Luthor too." She sighed and stood up as Cason played with his wrist monitor.

"I know." Cason grinned, not looking up. "Were you guys friends?"

"I am not sure. I only remember her name..."

Cason's sleeve monitor started beeping rather loudly. "OH." He jumped up and tapped a few more times. "Uh. Yes, Chief?"

There was a little bit of static but other than that Natalie and Cason could hear the voice clearly. "Cason. This is Amelia,"

"Yes, And?"

"You know I'd prefer that you called me Amelia."

"Sure! Whatever you say Alexandria." Cason nudged Natalie who stifled a chuckle.

"Is there someone else there?"

Natalie looked at the thing. "She can hear me?"

"Nat?"

Natalie froze as she recognized the voice. "Oh my god..."

Amelia's voice came back over the communicator. "Cason... You found Natalie Kent and said nothing?"

"She never said her last name to me. How was I supposed to know that was a priority?"

"Do you not remember how long we have been looking for all of them. They could be such assets to our cause and you just happen to waltz by one of them and not share that precious information?!"

"I was going to bring her back with me. She needs help with her memory." Cason glanced over at Natalie who was staring at his communicator. "And by the looks of it, she needs her friend too."

"He seems pretty messed up too..." Amelia sighed deeply. "Okay. I'll put him on, but only if you promise to head right back to base."

"You got it, Boss Lady."

Cason extended his arm to Natalie and gestured.

Natalie took his arm. "Jeremy. What happened?! I don't remember what happened."

Jeremy's voice sounded shaken. "I was asleep for five years, Nat. They checked the pod's memory. I am not sure I know anything."

Natalie looked at her pod. "Five years? How are we still alive?"

Jeremy was silent for a few seconds. "You have your alien DNA... And I... Well..."

Natalie paled. "You fed didn't you... Oh, Jeremy..." She put her hand on her face and stopped herself from getting upset. "Five years is a long time. It's not your fault."

"Yes. It is. Luckily they don't seem too upset about it."

Cason chuckled as he heard muffled complaining in the background berating Jeremy about how awesome being a vampire was.

Natalie heard the muffled conversation and leaned closer to the communicator. "Is Sammy with you? He may know more about this than we do."

"No... And as far as any of the others... I can't remember what happened to them."

Cason butted in. "We can fill you all in when we get to the base. And you guys can help us look for them..."

"If they are even here..." This was the most defeated Jeremy had ever sounded to Natalie. "They might all be dead. And it's our fault."

"What are you talking about, Jeremy?" Natalie grabbed Cason's arm a little bit too tight. "Do you remember anything?"

"Later." Amelia interrupted. "Cason, we've got to get them back. Who knows who else picked up

that signal."

"Righteo Aquarium!" He ended the call before Amelia could get mad at him again. He looked over at Natalie who looked ready to cry. He wrapped his arms around her. "Are you alright?"

"Jeremy... It feels like forever since I saw him last..." Natalie hugged the dog back.

Cason looked up. "He a boyfriend or something?"

Natalie shook her head. "No... He was my best friend." She pulled back and wiped her eyes before picking up the stuff she found from the pod. "So how far is your base from here?"

Cason smiled and picked up his bag. "It'll take about twenty-two hours to get there from here." He started climbing towards the entrance of the cave. After getting to the top, he turned around to help Natalie get up. "Easy there."

Natalie grinned and took his paw, pulling herself up. "Thanks."

As they exited the cave and made their way to Cason's truck Natalie gasped. She looked out into the barren wilderness. "Oh my god..."

Cason nodded sadly. "This is the world now. But hey, unlimited sand for sandcastles." He opened the back door and put his stuff in.

As they were about to get into the truck they heard a rumble coming from away, that seemed to be getting closer.

Cason turned with a panicked look and cursed. "Raiders..."