Did You Get What You Wanted?

"Searching..." Buddy says "Okay, here it is. According to her medical file, Alice Ward suffers from a rare condition called a 'Stand Still'." the computer says.

Marcen frowns "Stand Still? What's that? I've never heard of a condition like that before." he mumbles.

"It's a very rare disorder that puts a person into a 'stasis-like' coma and is brought on by extreme emotional stress." Jack explains as he and Samuel were standing there.

Jack helps Samuel over to the couch "If her condition had flared up, the most we can do is take her to the infirmary and make her comfortable until she comes out of it." he says.

Emanulle didn't like this what so ever. "So there's no cure for this illness from what you made it sound like." If that was the case he wanted to stay behind..but then they would be two people short. So if they fought the group he couldn't do that.

"Do you think her condition is our fault some way if its caused by emotional stress?" Natomi asked no one in particular, she was the type of person to feel guilty even if it wasn't her fault.

Jack shakes his head "There's no Known cure for it. That's not the same as saying there Isn't a cure for it." he says to Emanulle, then focuses on Natomi "I don't believe any of us is the cause of her condition flaring up." he says.

Then he turns to Marcen "So, are we still going to attack the baddies or are we going to stay here?" he asks.

Marcen nods "We should still try and ambush the opposition and while we're a man down, if we play our cards right, we won't need very many." he says.

Jack nods slowly "We Could...or, we could see if our new 'friend' has anything interesting to tell us." he says, reminding them that they still had one of Lexica's team members.

Emanulle didn't say anything else, gently taking Alice and heading to the infirmary to make sure she was taken care of while the others talked.

"That's a good idea. Though, I don't think he'll talk easy." Ramona pointed out.

Jack nods "I suspect you're right. However, I have ways of getting people to talk." he says.

Samuel watches Emanulle take Alice out of the room "So, now that we have our guest taken care of, what do you plan on doing about young Alice?" he asks.

Jack shrugs "At the moment, there's not much I Can do. Sure I can go poking around her mind and see if there's any way I can help, but I don't think that'll do much to Actually help her." he says.

"How does the illness work? How much do we know about it?" Ramona asked Jack, there was no known cure but who knows, they could find a way. She had seen great many of strange and impossible things in her long life after all.

"And..if its not us that caused Alice that much stress then I wonder what it was.." Natomi trailed off. "Did you notice anything off when you got her Ramona?"

The Demi Goddess shook her head. "Not really. Alice had one of her summons talk to me. When I explained the situation and Alice could stay behind if she didn't feel up to it at the moment, they mentioned they felt 'rejected'. Other then that, anything else is speculation. I do believe, though, that Alice's issue are inner demons she needs to deal with. For all we know, the only way to cure Stand Still is to face them. The ilness may be a spiritual one rather then a physical ailment."

Jack shakes his head "It's not a psychological or a spiritual illness. It's a physical one. It physically effects her neurological patterns as well as her physiology. Slowing it down to an almost 'stasis' like condition." he explains.

"Unfortunately the exact nature of this illness or how she even contracted it is beyond our understanding. I might have to ask Jason about it when next I see him." he mumbles the last part.

"Will Alice be okay?"

Emanulle had just gotten the young woman comfortable when Michru, the other girls around along with Jerod. He crouched down to her. "Alice..just doesn't feel well but she'll be all right. She'll just be sleeping for a long time, but I'm not sure how long."

Michru was young but wasn't stupid. She frowned a bit as if not entirely buying it but mumbled a 'okay' before Emanulle sighed and got himself up. There wasn't much more he could do here now. It was best to join the others if they were still going on the attack.

* *

"It may be so. But at the least, its important we figure out what triggered it This time. Otherwise, it'll be pointless for her to wake and then go back to a coma. I will do what little I can to look into things." Ramona said.

Natomi was silent a bit. "If can get our friend to say something then I'm all for it. Knowledge is the best tool we have right now if we're still doing this. We can't do anything for Alice, but we can at least take care of this for her finally."

"Her family, huh?" says someone, who was suddenly at the main door "Alice's family thinks she's dead, that's how long she's been away from them." he says.

Jack turns and smiles "Jason! I was Just talking about you!" he says as he walks over to his son and smacks him on the arm "Your sense of timing is Beyond perfect. Listen, we have a problem." he starts.

Jason nods "Yes, I already know. Alice has fallen into a Stand Still again and everyone's worried about her and what caused it and how to stop it from happening again, right?" he asks.

Jack nods "Pretty much. Any thoughts on the situation?" he asks.

Jason nods slowly "Plenty. But nothing that'll help you with your current situation. At least, not at this moment." he says.

Ramona sighed a bit. "I should have known as much. Nothing like this is easily solved."

It was about that time that Emanulle finally came back. "Jason? What brings you all the way here?"

Jason looks over to Ramona, than over to Emanulle "Actually, Jack did. The moment I entered into his train of thought, I knew I would be needed here." he says "Seriously, as much as I'm needed here, I might as well move back to this dimension." he sighs.

Jack shakes his head "Don't do that, son. I know we're in a pinch at the moment, but we'll work our way out of it. With the Vindicator gone and the V-Crew scattered, my dimension is the safest place to raise your daughter." he says in a low tone.

Jason shrugs "Maybe. But with her grandfather and auntie in another dimension, can either of us call it 'home'?" he asks.

"So, how did you know that we had a problem and more importantly, how did you know what this problem was?" Marcen asks, his ninja suspicions kicking in.

"Jason has the ability to know about things and events you'd normally wouldn't. As to how, I don't know, but he's always been like that since I've known them." Emanulle explained to Macen.

Marcen still was plenty suspicious about the current situation, but if Manny and Jack trusted him, he would give Jason the benefit of the doubt for now "I can tell you how much that relieves me to no end..." Jason mumbles.

Jack heads, but decided not to comment. Instead, there was a different matter at hand "So, Jason, I assume you know why the people that Lexica work for want her and Alice?" he asks.

Jason nods "Naturally. As you may have guessed, Lexica doesn't care about these people she's with. All she wants, is to end Alice and prove that she's real. It's the opposite with Alice to a degree. These people, they want them both for the same reason." he says.

"Which is what, exactly?" Marcen asks.

Jason spares him a glance "Ever wonder what would happen if Alice ever decided to Stop using harmless playing cards and starts using destructive images, like bombs and blood thirsty monsters?" he asks.

Jack nods "I have often wondered why Lexica doesn't use cards like those. I figured they have an upper limit to what they can create." he says.

Jason shakes his head "The only real limit they have, is if the picture leaves their hand. Other than that, what's to stop Lexica from using a picture of a nuclear bomb? Well, being from the same person, both Alice and Lexica have certain lines even they won't cross...the people that Lexica work for, don't share that." he says.

Ramona crossed her arms thinking a bit. "It does beg the question how Alice got such a insane power in the first place. Assuming she was human before she was 'turned' into what she is even more so. It's basically limited reality warping that has to be channeled through a card or drawing.  Anyway if possible, can you tell us about the leaders? How strong they are and their actual goal?"

Natomi figured if it was true about Jason, she may as well ask why he was here. "Even if there's nothing we do for Alice at the moment, do you know what triggered her Stand Still this time so we can try to avoid it in the future?"

Jason nods slowly "I'll tell you their goals, but you'll have to find out the other on your own." he says "Basically, they want to control it all. With Alice, the real Alice, they can do that." he says.

Marcen frowns slightly "What do you mean 'The real Alice'?" he asks "Are you saying they know how to make Alice whole again?" he asks.

Jason nods "It's not really that hard. When a Heartless dies, it goes to Kingdom Hearts and when a Nobody dies, they just stop being Anything." he says.

Than he holds up a finger "Unless the Heartless and Nobody are powerful and retain their bodies when created. Than when one of them dies, the energies return to the beginning and awaits for the other half. When the two energies meet, they become one again and the original person is restored." he explains.

"That's what the enemies want Alice and Lexica to do. Destroy each other and bring the original Alice back Now for the bad news. When a person becomes whole again, they return to the spot where they were made a Heartless and they remember Nothing of the time they were apart." he states.

This gets a frown from Jack "And how long has Alice been a Heartless?" he asks.

Jason shrugs "A little over three years. Just before the Space Pirate invasion. The reason for it, was because she couldn't stand the pain in her heart any longer. So she choose to lose it. After she awoke from a year long Stand Still. As a Heartless, she was getting her life back on track, staying with others like her, until she was rejected again." he says simply.

"That started her down the path that she's on now. Always thinking she's not good enough, needing to prove her worth, since she feels worthless and thinking that she's not a real person, which, of course, she's not." he says with a shrug.

This gets a glare from Samuel "Of course she's a real person! She breaths, eats, laughs and cries like everyone of us." he says, getting  very offensive by Jason's comment.

Jason, for his part, simply looks over to Samuel "No. She's Not a real person. Heartless, like Nobodies, cling onto the illusion of certain emotions that belonged to the person that they once were. Rest assured, when Alice laughs, it's a forced and very hollow laugh. It's not real or sincere. The only thing that's close to Real emotions that Alice has, are the negative ones. Loneliness, rejection and despair." he points out.

"Emotions come from the heart, so they say. If you put your head to Alice's chest, there's Nothing there. She Literally, has no heart to carry emotions in. That's why she's called a 'Heartless'." he says in a 'Matter-Of-Fact' tone.

Ramona frowned slightly. "But by that logic, a person born with something wrong with their brain that can't properly feel emotions isn't a person either. And it doesn't make sense she'd fall to Stand Still if she can't feel emotion; just because something is Not complete doesn't mean its not real. Not to mention you can lack a physical heart but have the meta physical one, since not every saptient being has a physical heart. But suppose I take your word for it and its that black and white. If Alice is reunited and becomes 'whole' you're saying she'll lost her memories of what she had when seperate. Is there no way for her be 'complete' without reuniting and losing her memories?"

Jason sighs "You're trying to make sense out of creatures that make no sense, than you're going to be over thinking this for a Very long time and since you don't fully understand the nature of Alice's illness, you can't assume you know how it works either." he says.

"And as much as you would like to think otherwise, it Is as black and white as I said. Also, no. There's no way for her to retain the memories of her life as a Heartless or Nobody, because those memories aren't hers. They belong to two very different people." he says, starting to sound irritated.

Ramona frowned, but said nothing further on the subject and let it drop.

Emanulle turned to Jason. "Arguments aside and whatever the case may be, is there anyway for Alice to unlock her full emotions as she is now?"

Jason shakes his head "The term 'Unlocking', implies that she has the rest of them. She doesn't. She only had the negative emotions." he says as he looks around.

"I think it's time you all knew the truth. Alice and Lexica came from the same person, you all already knew that, but when she became two, the best and worst of Alice got separated as well. Alice, got the worst of everything and Lexica got the best of her." he explains.

Marcen gets a dark look on his face "You're pretty sure of that statement. If it really Is true, does that mean that Alice is, or will become, the true enemy and Lexica only turned out how she did, because of the company she's been keeping?" he asks in a low tone.

"So in short..there is no good news actually just a bunch of less bad options." Emanulle mumbled more to himself then anything.

Natomi frowned. "But if anything, Alice has never acted malicious. Depressing and down most of the time, sure but that's about it."

Jason shakes his head "On the contrary. There Is some good news. Get both Alice and Lexica back into the same body, stop the baddies from getting to her first and this Whole mess goes away." he says simply.

Samuel chuckles lightly "That is, I'm guessing, not as easy as you make it sound." he says "For one, we don't even know where Alice was turned into one of these Heartless creatures." he points out "Also, how are we to destroy Lexica, when we don't even know where she is?" he asks.

Jason shrugs "If you like, I can help you out with this. I know exactly where Lexica and her clubies are. I can pop over there. deal with them and pop on back." he offers.

The casual way he stated that didn't sit well with Jack "No. If those are only options, then none of them are good enough and I suggest we stop wasting time on this get together and look for a more viable way to resolve this issue." he says in a stern tone.

Emanulle was silent for a long time before speaking. "It's very easy when its just dealing with flat out evil beings but its not the case here. It's very murky. Basically, we have the option of forcing Lexia to merge or destroying her of someone who just got mixed in the wrong crowd. Then Alice, we'll as you said she's actually her own person now and will forget everything should the merge happen. I know your stuff is 'absolute' as they come, but I can't get behind this one. Jason, you and I both know impossible things have happened before. There has to be something else."

Jack nods "There is. I have to see a friend. I'll be back when I know something concrete. No one is to engage the enemy under any circumstances, except for aiding and protecting the innocent." he says as he starts out.

Jason sighs "I sure hope he knows what he's doing. There are some VERY strict rules in what Jack has planned, plus he needs to Find them." he mumbles after Jack leaves.

(Jack's out)

"He's going to try to find his friend M-Omega isn't he?" Natomi suddenly said, it wasn't a question.

"That would be a good guess, yes. If he can find them, like Jason said. But Jack said he doesn't directly inteferre directly much and that's if he finds them. If that's who he's looking for anyway." Ramona pointed out before turning to Jason. "What does Jack plan to do?"

Jason shakes his head "No. He's going to talk to the Guardian, Kami and protector of Earth. He wants to use the Dragon Balls to fix this mess." he says as he looks over to the others.

"For those of you who don't know, the Dragon Balls are seven mythic and powerful orbs that, when brought together, summon Shenron and with him, he can grant Any one wish." he explains "Once the wish is granted, the Dragon Balls scatter and turn to stone for a time." he says.