These characters are not mine. They belong to Archie Comics, there I said it. Read on!

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MOBIUS, 3255

Julie-Su smiled at the expression on her daughter's face. Lara-Su had spent the last five minutes gazing at ex-Prince Elias, who himself was in the middle of a discussion with Knuckles. Lara-Su sighed as only a teen who was head-over-heels for a guy could.

"Lara? You're drooling." Julie-Su dryly stated. Lara-Su wrenched her gaze away from Elias for a moment to glare at her mother.

"Well excuse me." She retorted.

"Lara, he's twice your age, plus he's married!" Lara slumped her shoulders in defeat.

"I know, but--oh come on mom, what would you have done if you had met a guy like him way back when?" Julie-Su gave a knowing smile as she answered.

"As it happens, Lara I DID know Elias back before I met your father. And I must admit, he WAS kinda cute." Lara's jaw dropped.

"You KNEW him?!" She asked incredulously. Julie-Su readjusted herself on the couch, for she knew that this was going to be a LONG story..............................................

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MOBIUS, 3235

"Of all the stupid assignments I've ever been on, this one has GOT to be one of the stupidest. What's the point in patrolling an empty island?" Julie-Su sighed to herself. "I guess I better just complete my mission and go home. Not like I have a choice here."

It was true, she didn't have a choice. When she was given an order she had to obey. That's the way life worked in the Dark Legion. So when Kragok called her into his chamber and ordered her to fly recon on the Floating Island, she couldn't do anything except say "Yes, sir."

So there she was. Her hoverbike sped over the terrain of the Floating Island as she looked for anything that might be of interest to her superiors. Thus far, she has seen nothing that could be of any interest to anyone. Julie-Su was about to turn back when her hoverbike shuddered in midair and dropped two meters.

"What the-?" She checked her readouts; Everything was fine, according to the data. Then the bike dropped another meter and started zooming all over the place as Julie-Su held on for dear life. Gripping the controls firmly with one hand, she pried open the panel on the controls. Everything was shot to hell; The wiring was mixed up, fuses shorted out, and nothing was functioning properly. Yet all the readouts said everything was fine.

Julie-Su realized, with growing horror, that this was no simple malfunction. It was sabotage; Someone wanted her to think everything was fine, even as her hoverbike began to careen downwards. She desperately tried to regain control, but found that the controls weren't responding. The bike lurched and pitched as it spun in a downwards spiral. Julie-Su managed to cling on, but she knew she would never survive a crash, nor would she survive if she jumped. She was doomed, and she knew it.

Out of the corner of her eye, she managed to see a river down below. If she could manage to steer the hoverbike towards it---she might have a chance. Using all of her strength, she managed to direct the out of control bike towards the river, hoping she could slow it enough so she could jump off. Unfortunately, what little control she had left had just been lost. The bike plummeted towards the river as Julie-Su braced herself for the inevitable impact.

"This is it." She thought to herself. "This is really it." She shut her eyes as the bike drew nearer to the river. She didn't expect to survive the impact. She felt her internal organs lurch as she hit the water with a resounding "SPLASH!" She somehow managed to disentangle herself from her bike, but was too weak to swim to the surface. She closed her eyes and felt unconsciousness prepare to overtake her as her lungs screamed for air.

Even as she started to blackout she managed to feel vibrations in the water. She couldn't see what it was, even as it grabbed her outstretched hand and pulled her to the surface. As soon as her head was above water, she gulped in the fresh air, then immediately began coughing. Her rescuer, whoever it was, managed to pull her to shore. Julie-Su's lungs heaved as they tried to dispel the water from her system. Her rescuer placed a comforting hand on her and gently rubbed her back as she drew her breath. Her head was still swimming and she felt like she was about to pass out. She strained her head toward her rescuer for a better look.

The sunlight obscured his face-for it was a he-and allowed Julie-Su to only see a silhouette. "Who....?" She managed to gasp between breaths. "Are you?" Just before her eyelids closed in unconsciousness, she managed to hear his response:

"My name is Elias." With that, she passed out and welcomed her long overdue rest.

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