Madigan Ridge watched in a ghostly horror as her daughter slammed dead on into the frozen tundra below. In phasing through the ship following Sophia's descent she could not keep up, drifting slower toward the steaming pit she lay in. What was worse as she floated in the shadow of the Ganthorian starship X'Orr, now commandeered by the deceptive Orin Ridge she sensed further motions from above. Daring to look back she sees Xander the faithful German Shepard belonging to James Ian Pryce spiraling downward and then past her. It broke her heart knowing he would not survive. Despair setting in yet a third descender storms by her. If she could scream she would. Now in her sights was the primitive man Moe. Her terror lost steam the second she saw the hair little man switch formation as if a paratrooper. Hands pulled to his side and legs outstretched to build momentum. In a bizarre turn of events Moe caught up with Xander and plucked him to his chest. A shame neither could possibly survive the fall. Turning her gaze away knowing impact would be a bloody mess she misses something incredible.
Plucked out of the air by a large hairy arm whose hand slowed their drop only to release it. Like steps on a ladder portals appeared every sixty feet to snatch them then release. Nearing the snow covered ground one last grasp of a mighty hand drops them the last seven feet to a painful collision with the ground. Both fell unconscious instantly due to the stress build up. At least they were alive. As the portal fades they are left alone. Only a deafening echo on the wind reciting..."Gooooomezzzzz!"
Reaching the ground just as the X'Orr flies off Madigan Ridge discovered the faithful friends hugging each other but breathing. In her thoughts Madigan Ridge looked up and thanked God for whoever it was that intervened. Sensing life due to steamy exhales she could only watch over them. She had no way of keeping them warm. Strangely it was lighter in this part of the world. Akin to Alaska's daylight hours yet not quite as bright.
Uncertain what to do she left them to check on the impact crater left by her daughter Sophia. Had the Tyrant Tears kept her as invincible as James had always attested they would? She recalled he once told her she could walk the Arctic in the nude and not feel the cold. Now would be her true test. Having freefallen a good 12,000 feet to a sudden stop it would be a miracle. Hovering above the cloud of steam her body had generated she could not even see her daughter's body. It became a waiting game. In her stressful expression she notes something else falling toward them. Studying it as best as she could she realized it was one of the Ganthorian ball drones carrying a small hard shelled container. Somebody had obviously snuck out a care package. As it struck the ground the drone fell lifeless its power level diminished. Unable to open it she could only continue her idle pose. Finally, Maddy hears an earthshaking scream, "FUCK YOU GRAMPA!!" A smile of hope immediately crossed her face.
Crawling up from the pit Sophia Ridge was glowing as if on fire. Her Tyrants had indeed strengthened her body parts into something so dense it could survive the fall. Her glow keeping her warm. Exiting the steam she spots her Mother wishing she could cry.
"Y-you followed me out of the X'Orr?"
Offering a disappointed pout Madigan displayed sign language, "Did you really think I would abandon my sweet little Piper Sophia?"
"No. I knew you wouldn't. This is so fucked up Mom. How do we get back to the others? I can't let Grampa keep James."
A swift point to her left Sophia switches her gaze to the hairy duo freezing to death. Dropping her jaw Sophia races to their side and increases her body temperature to channel a breath of heat. It certainly saved their lives.
"Holy spit. He tossed out Xander and Moe too? Poor James...he's all alone now with that madman."
Hearing groans from Moe Sophia waits until his eyes open before lowering her glow so as not to blind him. Moe looks around him with a glint of horror which switches to awe.
"I survived." He pets Xander as the dog revives, "So did Xander."
Sophia bulges her eyes, "NO WAY! James?"
"It worked." Moe flares his eyes grinning from ear to ear.
"What worked?"
"My mind transference with Moe. He's in my body for now. I couldn't let him die and I knew Xander...you...needed me."
"You nearly got yourself killed...to be with me?" Sophia weirds out.
"Mostly Xander but yeah."
"How did you manage that mind switch?"
"Remember that trance I went into when we first got back from below Pangaea?"
"Not really."
"Of course not you were too busy getting attached to ME...older ME...but still ME."
"Grow up."
"If only I could." He flips her off with a monkey like finger.
"I couldn't agree more."
Madigan tired of their bickering steps between them and merely gravitates. It was enough to offer a truce. Pointing at the drone Madigan shares the gift. Moe/James crawls to his feet and shuffles toward the package. Sophia got the giggles.
"What?" He looks back.
"Monkey see. Monkey do."
"Haha! Don't make fun of Moe he doesn't have the posture we do."
"Not making fun of Moe. I'm making fun of you inside Moe. Charles Darwin would love this."
"Wow! You even knowing the name Charles Darwin gives me hope. Wait a minute!" He looks straight up, "How did we survive such a fall?"
Before Madigan can offer a clue a portal opens up next to the drone and a huge hair hand slips through confiscating the drone as if laying claim to an Easter egg. In the blink of an eye he and the portal was gone. Moe/James lost his color, "What just happened?"
Madigan quiets them both and gives them a show of hands saying, "Whatever that hand was it slowed your fall all the way down. I..." Then it dawns on her she had heard the beasts name before back at the Cruise ship Cameron Scott's evil twin resided in with Moe and the other primitives. Hand gestures later she told them of Gomez. For the record James/ Moe was just happy to be alive. He and his shivering canine.
"So cool. Wonder who dropped this for us? Certainly not Orin Ridge. He wanted us dead."
"Elle and the ladies were all escorted off the X'Orr. Who was left?" Sophia pondered.
"I know it wasn't Moe in my body. He was told to go silent. Hopefully he listens and Orin doesn't pick up on my ruse." He rubs his arms against the whipping wind before opening the container. Inside was a bolt of life fiber. Dragging it out James brainstorms and wraps himself and Xander in it. The clothe then morphs to his specifications into a tent. Spiked to the ground by rocks that Sophia lay on the edges. Staying outside she merely generates a heated air flow into the tent. They were toasty warm.
Regardless James had to expel through chattering teeth, "S-s-s-so cold."
"Quit whining James you have a fur coat now." Sophia Ridge rolls her eyes. Her Tyrant Tears creating a field of heat all around her. In the frigid temperatures of the Arctic she relaxed as if back in the desert. Knowing that Orin Ridge who confusingly inhabits the elder body of James Ian would not harm the younger body for fear of ruining his new home, James made a significant move in switching he and Moe's minds with little effort. Saving not only himself but his distant relative and fellow Reflection. Essentially himself from a past life.
"W-we have to take things seriously from here on S-Sophia. Our lives depend on it. W-we can't let Orin Ridge get away with this. I-I'm sorry you were taken advantage of."
Sophia Ridge closes her eyes barely hearing James over the howling winds whipping about them. She used them to ignore his attempts to apologize. In her soul he had no reason to be sorry. She was young and dumb. Feeling foolish enough on her own without a reminder. She paced a thirty foot section of icy tundra trying to escape his leaving the tent and following her like a lost puppy. Each step her increased body heat melted slush like rivers until steam erupted as temperature variations collided. At least her constant journey kept James busy talking to himself. Yes, he was lucky inhabiting Moe's overly hairy form. It helped. Just not enough.
