Twisted Returns

"I wonder why Teena's soul wasn't there yesterday," Lorraine says. "What if they used that on Sarah on accident?"

"Maybe because she's not here," I say. "And they wouldn't... It wouldn't be a match."

Lorraine and I are looking through my old photo albums and scrapbooks, searching for details of our old lives.

"Do you remember her name?"

"Roxanne, or something," I say. "It's hard to remember."

"At least you can remember," she says. She flips to a picture of her old self wearing my tiara. Her face is rounder with a button nose. Her eyes are the same as they are on her human face - chocolate brown and framed with thick, dark lashes. "I wish I could be myself again. I wish I could remember more."

"It was your choice," I remind her, but immediately feel guilty. She made the right choice in my eyes, anyways.

"I know. But it's worth it. I just... It's a lot to give up."

"You were always so great at magic," I saw. I turn to a page of me and Serenity - Elise. I see several similarities - light blue eyes, pin straight hair, long fingers and tall stature. Except that while I was beautiful, she was merely pretty.

"I guess so. You were better, though. Not as a human, to be honest. But I remember you using magic when our powers first came in."

"I kind of remember," I say. "Oh, and I remember things about Cody. Some, at least."

Lorraine turns to a page of Charlie and Johnny - Dean and Cody. They're spraying what looks to be whipped cream all over a tree, laughing. "Yeah?"

"Well, as Johnny, he liked short girls."

"That's good," Lorraine says. "I mean, we were almost the same height before, but now he's almost a foot taller than me."

"Yeah... and that he would date a new girl every week."

"What?" Lorraine almost shouts. "You don't think he'll start doing that, do you?"

"Well, there's a reason to stay with you," I say, patting her huge stomach. "And there was a reason he did it. I just don't remember why."

"Try to remember for me."

I close my eyes and think hard, but nothing comes to mind. "Nothing, sorry."

"I guess it will come back to you in time," she says. She shuts the scrapbook and puts it back on my bookshelf. "We should go watch the training now. You know... just for fun."

----

"I'm next," Cody says, stepping out of the glass booth. He kisses Lorraine on the cheek. "Wish me luck."

"This just doesn't feel right," Lorraine says. "I'm worried."

"You heard what Katie said," I say as Sarah steps back into the booth. She had burned the whole place, turning it into ashes. "You can't get hurt in here. I mean, the room can make you think you're hurt, but the worst it can do is knock you out for a few seconds."

"I guess. But I mean, I don't want him to feel the pain, on top of everything else," Lorraine says. "But think about it. What is he training for? War. He's going to be fighting in a war, where you can really get hurt."

"It's what he wants, though," I tell her. "He wants to fight for us."

"Yeah, guess so. Let's watch."

"Sheffin Meadow, light enemies," Cody says to the room. The white turns blue and green. Tall grasses and wildflowers spring from the ground.

Cody stands there with his weapon of choice, a long pole with a blade on the end. Of course, it's more than it looks like.

Strange shapeless blobs burrow out of the ground. They emit a viscous fluid that burns right through the vegetation.

A monster jumps, nearly landing on Cody's feet. He backs away, swinging the blade. It passes right through the blob's body, causing no damage. It keeps coming after him.

Swinging it a certain way, the blade activates a special power. It turns an angry red. As soon as the weapon touches an enemy's body, it bursts into flames. Looks like their acid is flammable.

From there, it's easy. He quickly takes care of the rest of the monsters, but the meadow also burns along with them. If this is how the war will be, I'm horrified to think what the planet will look like after the war.

"End session," Cody says, deactivating his weapon. He puts it in the storage box and comes back into the booth.

"That was great," Lorraine tells him.

"Thanks. I'm worried, though," he replies. "I don't think the war will be that easy, and I'm still not really used to this body."

"I wish I could say I know how you feel," she says. "I'm not fighting, and I only really remember being in this body."

"I'm glad that's true, though," Cody says, rubbing Lorraine's belly. "Soon, Lorraine."

"Can't wait," she says. "It's not exactly the most comfortable thing in the world."

I turn away from their baby conversation to watch Katalina take a turn. Even though she gave up her magic, she still wants to fight. Since she had practiced archery on Earth, her choice was a bow and arrow.

She takes the same field and enemies that Cody had just went through, using fire arrows. The arrow she uses splits into four, hitting four targets at once and setting the meadow on fire. She finishes more quickly than Cody had.

Then Lynda and Wessley go, as they plan to fight as a team, and Lynda's powers are stronger when he's there, anyways. They take the longest to clear the field, but don't completely fry the environment.

"There's only two days until they attack," Lorraine says. "I don't know."

"I'll be fine," Cody says, putting one arm around her shoulders.

"I don't know that. And I would fight with you, if I could."

"I wouldn't let you."

"Well, then I'm not letting you."

"Okay, okay," Cody says. "As long as we were together."

"I don't even know why we would fight,"

"For the planet. For the people."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Lorraine says.

"And for... for Connor."