N2-3

Chapter 3: Tell Me The Truth

"You're going to have to swim a lot faster than that!" April called as she passed LJ.

He whipped his arms about as he tried to keep up.

She giggled while turning her head again, making her way toward the finish line. In merely ten seconds, she'd win the race.

Or maybe she'd win by throwing it. Lothar Junior was a cocky type. Winning the contest would ease his mood.

Perhaps she would get him to kiss her then.

April slowed...

LJ passed. "Eat my waves, Maple Gordon! Slow as syrup! Totally."

Three seconds later, he reached the end.

"I win!" he shouted.

April chuckled. Great, hot stuff. Now take your reward. She stumbled a bit, nearing him, crashing straight into his waiting arms. "Oops. Sorry," she said as she huffed, loving the feel of his big biceps.

"...No problem at all," he uttered while panting, seemingly liking the feel of her skin.

They stared for a moment, holding each other. Their faces were only mere inches apart.

Then he let her go, drifting away.

April's jaw lowered. What in the world? What had become of their movie kiss? Their big, epic, passionate smooch? The grand culmination of their weeks of heat.

He sat on the edge. "You want to go again?"

She sat there too. "I think I need a minute to catch my breath." Even though she'd hoped he would take it away.

A bit of silence lingered.

He turned to her. She could tell he'd grown a little serious now.

"Do you mind if I ask something personal?" LJ said, frowning a bit.

"Go right ahead." April shrugged, having no idea what he wanted to know.

He hesitated, then looked aside. "What happened on Mongo?" He eyed the water. "I mean with your mom. What did Ming do?"

April looked down at the water herself, feeling a flutter of anger now. She truly despised Ming the Merciless. She'd have his head on her wall one day.

"I asked Rick once. He got all quiet."

"Ming tortured her. Then Dad showed up. He managed to get my mom out of there." She stewed a little, taking a breath. "My mother survived...but the marriage didn't. My mom and my dad couldn't make it work." It pained her to say it, even now, even when nearly two years had passed.

"Why not?" he murmured, carefully.

"I think that Mom's trauma kind of split them up. It made her all quiet...kind of detached. And Dad was upset over something else. He wouldn't ever tell me just what that was. I think that maybe- -"

The alarm blared.

"Warning. Warning," Dynak said. "Enemy pilots approaching base."

LJ tensed. "Let's go!" He moved.

April hopped up, following him.

They didn't have time to put their plain clothes on. Side by side, with water dripping, she ran with him to the aircraft deck, jumping in her favorite fighter plane.

LJ boarded one. They both took off.

"Dynak!" she said. "Call the other Defenders!" Most of the group was hanging out on the town; they'd figured that nothing would happen tonight. Others were away on a mission abroad.

Rising high up into the starlit sky, April spotted something unbelievable.

LJ gasped on the radio. "There have to be at least 100 of them."

Roboships. A giant horde. Ming wasn't messing around this time.

April quivered, shaking her head. "It'll take five Defenders to stop that fleet." Five Defenders or a miracle.

"We've got to try, A," LJ muttered. "They'll blow the city up if we let them pass."

The robots rushed—in strike formation.

She clutched the controls, bracing herself. She'd always known that the day would come. This was it. Her final battle. She and LJ wouldn't make it out. "...Dynak," she said. "Call my mother."

Twenty seconds later, her mom picked up.

"Hello?"

"...Mom," she managed to mutter.

"April?" Her mom seemed to sense her mood. "What's going on?"

"Listen." She paused. "LJ and I are in an aerial fight. I don't think we're going to survive this one. Too many ships." A laser flew. April dodged. She turned to her friend. "Let's do it!" she shouted.

"April!" her mother cried out on the phone. "Where are you?"

"Monitor. Just over the mansion. Mom, listen. I love you, okay? I just really needed to tell you again." She gritted her teeth, firing shots.

A couple of the roboships were destroyed.

"How many?" Her mom's voice was brimming with fright.

"I think 100. Possibly more." April held still, like she'd been taught, hearing her father within her mind. Don't rush in. Not with these odds. Wait for the enemy to make a mistake. She quivered again. She loved her dad.

A swarm of the ships started coming her way.

"LJ!" she uttered. "Cluster shots!"

They both unloaded, hitting their marks. Several of the white roboships blew up.

But there were more. So many more.

"Where is the team?" her mother asked. "Where's your dad?"

"Dynak called. They're on their way. I don't think they're going to make it in time."

More shots came. April swerved. Then she started firing back at the group.

"April..." Her mother's voice paused on the line. "There's something that I have to tell you now. I promised myself that I would one day."

She shook while blasting away at the ships. "What do you mean?"

A brief pause came. "April..." she said. "I love you, hon. I have to make sure that you know that first."

April scowled. Of course she knew. What in the world was her mom getting at?

She heard a little static. "Alert. Alert," Dynak said. "Unit 3 fighters arriving now."

"April!" LJ radioed her. "We've got backup!"

She looked aside. Sure enough, other aircraft were approaching the scene. "Unit...3?" April said. How did they know?

"I sent distress signals to all defense teams," Dynak declared.

LJ heaved a sigh. "Thanks, Dynak."

Unit 3 struck—and struck very hard, blowing the robots to smithereens. Blankets of fire and smoke filled the air.

After she'd thanked those who'd helped her out, April made the drive to her mother's home. She needed to know what the secret was.

"What's going on?" she asked as she sat, easing down next to her mom on the couch.

Her mother fell silent, eyeing her lap.

"Mom," she pressed. "Tell me what it is you were trying to say."

"Never mind," she uttered. "Forget it, okay?"

April glared a little. "You're kidding, right? Whatever it was had to be pretty deep. You wanted me to know when you thought I would die." She quieted a moment. "Does Dad know this?"

She frowned a little. "Definitely. That's the whole reason..."

April paused. "That's the whole reason you two split up?"

"Yes." She squirmed. "No," she muttered. "Not entirely. It's just...it's..."

April stared, trying to wait.

Her mother looked tenser than ever before. This was the woman she'd idolized. The woman who'd taught her what courage was. Yet in this moment, for some odd reason, Dale Gordon didn't have courage at all.

Eventually, April's patience faded. "Mom," she uttered, once again.

"Let it go, A."

"I can't do that. You know I can't."

Her mom took a breath.

"You've always said that I can confide in you. I don't appreciate that you won't do the same. You were going to tell me when you thought I would die, but you can't say it now, while I'm alive? You're treating me like I'm a baby here."

"April..." she grumbled.

"Tell me the truth!"

"I didn't survive on Mongo, all right?"

"You didn't survive. What does that mean?"

Her mother held quiet.

"What does that mean? What do you mean when you say...you..."

More silence followed.

April felt a coldness spreading in her gut.

"April..." She took April's hands in hers. "I'm an immortal."

She scowled again. "That can't be true," she said in a whisper. Something that she'd heard contradicted the claim. "Immortals aren't capable of having kids."

Glistening tears welled up in her mom.

April stared.

"Back when you and Rick were infants, hon...me and your father adopted you."

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Article

Image 1 by Plustina

Image 2 by Plustina and Neldorwen

Chapters

1: Blood Ties

Commander Abigail Gordon seeks the assistance of LJ and Rick.

2: The Foreigner

April and Rick hurry to stop Ming's latest scheme.