Testing Friendship

"What was that place?"
"Hell, Hades, Tartarus..."
~Raina after being sent 'elsewhere' by Grim

Raina wakes before Jack and decides to head out on her own and train. She decides to use the local invasion of supernatural creatures to refine her techniques. While fighting she is joined by a helpful demon. She scents him and agrees to join forces for the time being. As they fight the demon drops compliments on her grace and skill, to which Raina replies in kind. The demon introduces himself as Dysio and gradually begins to grow more bold with touching her, and eventually, a bit confused, Raina claims that she needs to leave and does.

Later Raina is approached by Dysio again in the D, who starts coming on to her again, trying to overwhelm her with his influence as an incubus. Raina is at first oblivious and confused to why she scent's Jack when her love is not present. Apparently, Dysio's body is supposed to be producing scents that attract Raina, but all she smells is Jack. Dysio tries to push harder, stating that she smells Jack because fate is pushing her towards him and that he can show her pure pleasure. Repulsed and offended, Raina hashly rejects the incubus, stating that she's already found "bliss" with Jack and does not need an incubus. She even berates him for not knowing that he cannot lure someone who's already in love with another.

As Raina leaves to head back to base, Parallel contacts her. Remembering how Jack told her that Parallel has sided with John, Raina violently rebukes him and orders him to stay out of her head or face her cat. Confused but apologetic, Parallel agrees and breaks contact. She arrives and finds Jack gone and is curious when she is unable to contact him. However, a short time later she hears a frantic cry for help over the comm.. its Grim. Not wasting time with questions, she asks Grim where he is. The white mage is able to respond, "Raina, help! John's base!" before his communicator is destroyed. Panicking and unable to contact any of her allies, Raina finds that she's the only one available to rescue him. Knowing that attempting to storm the villain base would be foolhardy and suicidal she searches for another solution and finds it in the mediport system. Quickly jerry-rigging the mediport interface and doing one of her sloppiest hack jobs ever, she manages to trigger Grim's mediport beacon and brings him to the base.

Running to the base entrance, she finds Grim's body, half mutilated and unconscious. Horrified and worried for her friend, Raina scoops him up and gets him to medbay. She wakes him up and Grim immediately starts trying to heal himself. Raina sees what John has done to Grim's private parts and knows that the damage is likely to extensive for the white mage to ever heal right. She offers him a way to fully heal himself, the same way she healed Morris and Valos. Grim accepts and agrees to tell no one.

Her method heals the main damage but it remains to be seen whether it will be able to fully undo what John did. Her concern passed, fury takes its place and Raina gets out her PDA to hack into the VoPC comm signal where she lets John have it. However, midway through another voice, also apparently against John speaks up. Raina offers to meet with that voice, citing their mutual dislike for the power-hungry megalomaniac. The voice, Paul Wolfe, agrees and states that he will contact her later.

Partially recovered, Grim recounts how he was captured and expresses his need to vent. Raina offers to continue his hand to hand combat training. They go to the newly completed training area, courtesy of Rusty, and after some protective wards from Shadow, begin their mock combat. Raina wins at first, but Grim resorts to magic for the second one and casts his HOLD!spell on her, making the unprepared Raina vanish.

She reappears, badly shaken, a few moments later. Grim states that he sent her to a place that the closest description for was the underworld. Shaken up, Raina ends the training as Rusty and Jack show up. They inform their allies of what has transpired and Jack immediately vows vengeance. Their chance comes sooner than expected with a call to Raina from Paul Wolfe. Wolfe offers to meet with them in Steel Canyon. Excited to meet this new ally, Raina immediately insists that they go to meet him.

It doesn't take long for the group to come together and they start to talk when John appears, "So this is where the cool kids hang out." Realizing that he is alone, the group spreads out, wanting to take this chance to take him down. Wolfe attempts, to Raina's protests, to offer to dual John one-on-one. However, John attempts to attack Raina and the fight is on. Well outnumbered, the group badly injures and mauls the maniac. However, his armor teleports him away right as Raina tries to deliver the finishing blow. Frustrated at being denied a kill, Raina rants for a few moments and then calms as Rusty hypothesizes that this may have only been a test of their skills.

While they talk, Grim gathers up as much of John's spilled blood as he can get. Wolfe agrees to work with them to eliminate John. As they ready to split ways for the time being, they find Project White Melody recruiting a child to serve in the "Phalanx of Paragon". Angry, the group confronts her about the lies she's feeding the child and is surprised to find that Melody still believes John to be dead. Grim proves her wrong by showing her the bloody shirt, which she scans and reveals to be John's DNA. She leaves to report the find to Hero Corps.

Rusty then tells them that he doesn't believe it necessary to kill John. Grim's torture and the video John had sent her several weeks ago are fresh memories for Raina. She snaps and yells at Rusty, showing him the videos and demanding that if he thinks any prison could hold that. Sensing her close to the edge of her control, Jack attempts to calm the werecat, but she's in no mood for it. Parallel then approaches and asks to speak with Raina alone.

Mistrustful, pissed off, but aware that she needs a break before she loses it completely, Raina heads to the top of a nearby statue to talk with Parallel. The conversation does not start well:

"Raina, I'm on your side, I want to help you."
"Bullshit." -Parallel. and Raina

However, through the ensuing conversation, Parallel reveals that he is only trying to get John to trust him. He then offers Raina a small device that, once activated, will send anyone within a 12 foot radius to a far away dimension. However, the backlash will also send Parallel to that dimension as well. Somewhat hopeful, Raina asks how will Parallel get back, "I may not trust you.. but I don't want you dead either." Parallel responds that she simply needs to leave that beacon on. Raina agrees and thanks him before heading back down to rejoin her friends. As she waits for them to finish their discussion she finds a tracking device left in the object and disables it. The group has had enough for now and decide to head back to base.

Kalius arrives and is told what happened. Meanwhile Jack and Raina go to spend sometime together in order to help Raina calm down and lose her building anger. As Jack helps Raina vent and relax, they get a quiet call on the comm from Grim, "We have trouble in the D." They quickly go to find and backup their friends but are stopped midway by Dysio.

Angry, Raina warns Jack of Dysio's abilities and they eventually walk away, deciding that the demon was nothing to worry about. They find that Grim and Kalius are trying to persuade a hero from joining John's group. At his request for proof, Grim offers to drop his pants and Raina offers her PDA. Through the ensuing argument, and after John's departure, the person they were trying to dissuade is actually just putting on a front and intends to try to take him down from the inside.

Knowing that they've all already been that route and failed, they wish him luck and offer sanctuary if he ever needs it before leaving themselves. Arriving back at the base, Raina, Jack, and Grim run into Bladeless. After a short verbal spat, Grim declares that Bladeless raped him in the past and storms off. Stunned for a moment, Raina wavers and Jack encourages her to go after Grim while he deals with Bladeless.

Raina follows after Grim and finds him in the library. She gently explains that Bladeless had arrived yesterday and had not known they were there. She also says that she and Jack had checked him out mentally, adding on that they "were not gentle". Grim snaps that he will never work with Bladeless as Jack arrives to join them. They respond that they can accept that and reaffirm that they are his friends and that they will make Bladeless suffer if he even threatens Grim.

The group, joined by Kalius, heads out to do some missions and remind themselves why they're heroes. However, Raina, weary from the events of the day, quickly tires and is sent back with Jack to rest. The two end up cuddling on the couch and discussing the days events and whether or not John deserves death. Jack says that his father told him that they are on a slippery slope, Raina responds that she'll make sure that Jack does not fall.