The New Generation: Earth-53

No one could have expected what would happen when Doctor Connors fired up the transdimensional device, after presumably fixing it. Heck, she thought she had done it right. However, something went terribly wrong. Whether she crossed a wire somewhere or the device had just been far too badly damaged, it malfunctioned. Severely. Rose and her daughter, Blade, stood side by side, holding each other's hand as they were all engulfed in a blinding white light. They thought they were going home... instead, they went somewhere else entirely.

As the white light spread, opening a rift between this universe and their own, the two dimensions collapsed in on each other. But they were not destroyed, no. They merged together. All the inhabitants of both worlds, past and present, dead and alive, were melded into completely new realities, a rebirth of their stories. In this new universe, things would play out differently than they had, yet also very similarly. It was a chance at a true, new beginning.

This is Earth-53.

---

Rose let out a long sigh, leaning over the railing on her back porch and tapping her fingers against the wood. She was bored. It was always like this on Sundays, when her father was at work and her mother cleaned the house. Her dad was never around much, working seven days a week. Then again, he was a military consultant at Fort Hamilton, about an hour's drive away. She assumed that they had a lot of work for him to do, meaning he hardly ever got a day off. Back in the day, he used to be one of the government's best special forces soldiers. There was the best soldier you could imagine, then there was Rambo, and then there was her dad, right at the top. She was proud of him for that, but didn't get to see him much because of that, even after he retired from active duty.

During the weekdays, her mother taught her constantly, homeschooling her. They never sent Rose to a real school, saying that the outside world would corrupt her, or something. She guessed that they just wanted to keep her sheltered or something. A lot of good that did, the internet pretty much nullified any attempts at keeping her isolated from the outside world. At night, when her dad came home, he'd train her, teach her everything he knew. It was fun, but it was rough, too. She couldn't count how many days she'd woken up sore all over. At least she knew how to snap a man's arm with extremely minimal effort, though.

But that was Monday through Saturday. Sunday is the one day she has to herself... and in all honesty, it's pretty boring. Normally, she'd be wasting away the hours on the internet, but her laptop had been at the repair shop now for two weeks, and there was still no word on when she'd get it back. Releasing a long sigh, Rose kicked a small stone on the steps of her porch, then marched through her fenced in back yard. Might as well beat on the heavy bag hanging from their oak tree for a while.

"So then you just have to carry the three, and plug the answer in to your equation and you should be able to get your answer," Neal said as he stood over his sister's shoulder, trying to do his best to help her with the Geometry homework that she had been assigned. His sister, Jordan, was about three years younger than him, so if she ever needed help with any of her assignments she would always go to her brother first. She was even lucky enough to have several of the same teachers that Neal had, so she tended to be well liked due to her brother's positive reputation.

Jordan would thank Neal before insisting that she could do the rest of the work on her own. She just needed a bit of help with the formula, once that was taken care of she didn't need his help. Of course, she might have him double check it later. Neal just wished her luck before starting to head outside.

The Anderson's were a family of three. There was Neal, the oldest son, Jordan the younger daughter, and then there was Clint who was their father. They had been a full family once, but it only lasted a few minutes. Their mother had died shortly after giving birth to Jordan, something that had affected their father deeply for obvious reasons. Ever since then he always did his best to play both roles. He was surrounded by friends and colleagues that would support him through anything, so thankfully he was able to hold their family together. He still worried though, as being a police officer wasn't a very safe job. He often wondered what would happen to Neal and Jordan if anything ever happened to him. Neal respected the work that he did though, and despite having nearly perfect grades he knew that he wanted to be a cop just like his father was.

Neal had a smart brain. It wasn't like he ever invented anything or came up with any advanced formula, but he just remembered things extremely easily. Whether it was a line from a specific movie, or a complicated equation. It came back to him like he was reading the book right out of his mind. He was gifted, something that he was frequently told. Neal wasn't sure about that, he just did his best and his best happened to serve him well so far.

On the weekend Neal really liked to get out of the house. He always felt like he was studying and just needed to get out every now and than. His father was at work though, so he couldn't very far as Clint was a bit paranoid about crime in the area. He didn't want Jordan home alone, as if Neal would actually be able to do something if people broke in. So instead of going on a walk he merely walked out to his own backyard before laying down in the grass, just allowing himself a few moments to stare up in to the blue sky.

Life was complicated, but he was happy and their family was still together. Neal wasn't going to complain.

"Keeeyaaaah!" Rose shouted, in a single exhale, as her kick battered the heavy bag. She might look like a small, helpless girl, but that would be a poor misjudgment. Though only fifteen, she had a lot more strength than you'd expect to find in someone her age and size. Guess that came with the extensive workout program her father had kept her on since she'd been five. Heck, she was breaking boards by six. Needless to say, her shots packed a mean punch in comparison to her size.

But not only that, she was quick, too. Acrobatic, even. She could land a man flat on his back before he even knew what hit him. That wasn't a boast, either, she'd done it before. Wintergreen, one of dad's oldest friends, often came by for visits. He was in the army, too, and though nowhere near as good as her dad, he wasn't a slouch. A few years ago, Slade had insisted that Wintergreen be her sparring partner, though of course he was reluctant to fight a twelve year old girl. He strongly reconsidered when he found himself flat on his back with a black eye.

Neal was pulled away from his relaxing world as he heard someone shouting. He glanced to his right before realizing the source of the sound. Ah, it was that neighbor girl again. Neal had never really spoken to her, but he recognized that she must be some kind of a fitness nut. There were many times when Neal was trying to study that he heard the sound of her fighting against that bag of hers. Neal was amazed the thing was still up, she must have hit it about two thousand times by now.

He had no idea who she really was, as she didn't even go to his school. She was never at the bus stop, nor did he ever see her in school. Maybe she was home schooled, or something like that. As she continued to beat on the bag, Neal decided to get up and walk towards the edge of the fence before popping his head up to see her hitting the bag. "You know one of these days you're gonna knock that thing clean off," Neal said as he leaned up against the fence.

They had never really spoken before, but he was bored. So why not?

Rose let out a small yelp, as the sudden statement from Neal drew her attention away in mid kick, causing her to fall off balance and stumble to the ground. She blinked for a second, then frowned and narrowed her eyes, slowly turning to glare at the boy. She had seen him around a couple of times before, but she'd never tried talking to him. She never really wanted to. So why the hell was he talking to her now?

"Great, thanks for that," she muttered, picking herself up off the ground. After taking a moment to brush herself off, she folded her arms and stared at him. "What, do you spy on me or something? And how do you know if I haven't already knocked the bag down, huh?" She hadn't yet, but she could if she wanted to!

Okay, so perhaps Neal should have timed that statement just a little bit better. Still, it wasn't completely his fault that she had fallen over like that. He didn't know that she was gonna get thrown off balance that easily. He still felt bad though, she might have hurt herself after all and that definitely wasn't his intention.

"Sorry about that," Neal said with a sincere tone in his voice. God, this went from a nice conversation starter to the start of a blood feud in about five seconds! He would have to do some damage control. "I don't spy on you, I just hear you hitting that thing all of the time. It's not like I live super far away, I can even hear it from my room," Neal said as he tried to explained himself. He just did not want this girl to hate him after speaking to him for ten seconds.

At Rose's last comment he merely stared at her for a moment. "Have you knocked the bag down before?" he asked and waited to hear her response.

Rose glared even harder at his declaration that he could hear her practicing even from his room. So what if it made sense? She wanted a reason to be mad at him right now. Frowning more, she glanced back at the heavy bag for a few moments, then to Neal again. He just had to ask that question, didn't he? "Of course I have!" she declared, asserting that she was just that awesome. "Just watch!" Turning back to the bag, she delivers a viciously powerful kick, causing the bag to bend and sway on the tree limb. Of course, it doesn't even come close to breaking off, though.

Frowning again, she let out a frustrated breath and kicked it again. And again. And again. Finally, she kicked so hard and so fast, that she completely missed it, as she hadn't been paying attention to how it was swaying and ended up bringing her leg up way too early. When the bag finally swung back, it hit her raised leg and pushed her back to the ground again.

"Damn it!" If her mother heard her say that, it would be a dollar of her allowance to the swear jar, but fortunately her mother was inside vacuuming.

Neal felt himself almost physically moving back, as if that glare of hers had a truly dark soul powering it. God that look was just creepy on so many insane levels, it was literally already beginning to send a chill down Neal's spinal column. He wasn't even sure what forced him to keep watching her, his own mind was yelling at him to just leave the girl alone before she started to beat the crap out of him. She looked like she could do it to.

Neal watched as she tried to kick the bag off of the tree, only to have it come back and knock her off of her feet and down on to the ground. The girl emitted a swear as her back hit the ground. Things just kept getting worse for her didn't they? Neal was certain that he was going to regret this, but he decided to ask anyway. "Are you alright?" he asked curiously.

"I'm fine!" she said quickly, pretty much snapping at him over his concern. She wasn't exactly in a good mood right now, and most of it had to do with her own failure at kicking the bag down. It wasn't like she was really supposed to be able to, but someone had been watching! And then she'd gone and made an idiot of herself. The first boy she'd talked to in, well, probably years, and now he'd think she was stupid.

Growling slightly under her breath, she moves her glare back at him and folds her arms. "There, happy? I can't knock it down... yet." Shifting her weight slightly, her gaze moves off to the side, as she inhales a deep breath and lets it out. "So, when are you going to start making fun of me? If not over the bag, then at least my hair."

Her entire life, whenever she'd gone outside her home, everyone stared at her. Really, it wasn't every day you saw a teenager with bright, snow white hair. Most of the people just thought it looked weird, but others thought something might be wrong with her, lie she was sick or something. Others still, mostly kids around her own age, ridiculed her for it. Part of the reason why her parents never sent her to a real school.

Yeah, this definitely didn't feel like it was going to work out. The girl just seemed to be angry at him, for some unknown reason. Neal tried to jump back in to his mind to figure out if he knew the girl from somewhere. Had me made fun of her when they were younger or something? What had he done to earn this hatred from her? It was so strong and intense that Neal almost felt like it had to be justified somehow. "Well glad to hear that you're okay," Neal muttered under his breath.

It was what she said next though that made Neal stare at her for sometime. She expected him to make fun of her........because of her hair? Neal did have to admit that it was white, but there was nothing wrong with it. It was a good look for her, and it wasn't like grandma hair white. It was........well placed. Enya wasn't sure if that was the right term, but it at least sounded right in his own mind.

"I'm not going to make fun of you," Neal said simply. "After watching you beat up that bag I'm pretty sure you could knock out all of my teeth if I even tried," he pointed out with a weak laugh. "And besides there's nothing wrong with your hair. It's different and unique and it seems kinda cool to me. Way better than mine at least," Neal mentioned as he touched his own hair. "My hair is just brown and short........it's so boring"

Rose lifted an eyebrow, staring at the kid in utter confusion. She actually seemed genuinely surprised. "Wait... you're not going to make fun of me?" That was probably the first time that someone hadn't, at least when they weren't wondering if she had some kind of freak disease that killed the pigmentation in her hair. In truth, they didn't really know why her hair was white... it just was.

For a good few minutes, Rose just stood there in silence, shifting her weight every now and then and scratching the back of her head. So what did she say now? She didn't really have a whole lot of experience talking to kids her age... it left her pretty socially awkward. "So, um... thanks... and your hair is cool, too..." 'Your hair is cool'? Had she really just said that? What was that even supposed to mean?

Neal just stared back as the girl looked at him. "Of course I'm not going to make fun of you. That would be rude," Neal said as he gave his extremely simplistic answer. He was just always raised that way, everyone was different and that was okay. Neal had no place to make fun of this girl, especially when it was something that she couldn't control. Her hair was white, that was no big deal.

"Well thanks, if you say so," Neal said as he ran a hand through his own hair one more time. He didn't really like it, but hey if she liked it he was fine with that. "Well we're neighbors so we might as well know who each other is right?" Neal asked as he got a small smile on his face. "My name's Neal. What's your name?"

Rose shifted her weight again, pursing her lips slightly as the boy gave his name. She glanced back over her shoulder briefly, trying to look for any sign of her mother. If she saw her talking to the neighbor, she'd probably scold Rose and shoo her back inside. Her parents... it was like they though the entire world was out to get her. When she's sure that the coast is clear, she looks back to him again. "Neal... okay name, I guess." Now she was trying to act cool. Needless to say, it probably wasn't working. "I'm Rose... uh, Wilson. Rose Wilson. Nice to meet you, I guess." It couldn't hurt to just talk to him, after all, right?

An okay name? What determined if a name was cool or not? Neal wasn't sure, and he didn't feel like now was the best time to ask. Neal followed the girl's gaze as she glanced back as if looking for something. Whatever she was looking at, Neal couldn't tell what it was for she had looked far too quickly for it. "Rose Wilson, nice to meet you too," Neal said with a smile. "My last name is Anderson by the way, since I forgot to mention it," he said as he moved to get more comfortable on the fence.

"Hey random question, which school do you go to? I haven't seen you at mine I don't think"

"I, uh... I don't go to school," Rose said, shrugging slightly. Moving back a few steps, she sits down on a small stump, the remnants of the other tree that used to be in their yard, before her dad cut it down to open the space up a little more. Breathing out a long breath, holds her hands on her knees and leans forward. "My mom home schools me, on the weekdays. Teaches me everything she thinks I need to know, basically... I think I started college level stuff a few weeks back, but she wasn't really specific." In fact, Rose's IQ was far above average, especially for one of her age. Granted, it wasn't genius level, but she could probably pass most college level courses just fine if she tried. That had to do with how much her mother taught her, though, and how well she retained the information. Her mind was like a sponge, basically, when it came to classroom lessons.

Neal just stood there and listened as Rose explained what it was that she did. Apparently she didn't go to a normal classroom, she was being home schooled by her mom. Well that was cool, Neal had heard of home schooling but he had never really met anyone who actually did it. At what Rose said next though Neal couldn't help but widen his eyes. "What?" he asked in utter disbelief. "You've started college level classes? That's incredible, you must be like a prodigy or something!" Neal said in his amazed tone. Neal considered himself fairly smart, but even he wasn't ready for college level courses.

Rose just shrugged at the comment. It wasn't like she thought it was that impressive, it was just pretty normal for her. "I don't really think so... it's just how I am. I've never known anything different. I mean, I guess I'm pretty smart for my age... but whatever. Sometimes, I wish I could just get out, though. My parents don't really let me go do stuff much, like they think I'm going to hurt myself just stepping out the door. I don't know... I mean, yeah, they care, but it's so boring. Normally I can keep myself occupied the internet... lots of stuff on there. But my computer's been away for repairs for, like, ever."

Whether Rose realized it or not, doing college level classes at her age was a pretty big deal. Neal had never met anyone that was as smart as Rose at her age, not even close. Sure there were kids taking Calculus, but even those weren't college courses and they were already older then fifteen! Neal continued to listen as Rose mentioned that she just wanted to escape and get out. "Do they not let you leave? I mean you have to be allowed out at some points right?" he asked curiously. He really had no idea what the Wilson family was like.

"Well, yeah, I go out for some things," Rose said, shrugging again. "To the grocery store with my mom, the doctor's office when I need to, I've been to my dad's work a couple times... stuff like that. But I don't really go anywhere to hang out or have fun. Schooling and training, that's about what most of my life amounts to. And staying up late watching youtube videos, when my computer isn't busted." Of course, she wasn't about to go telling him what she watched on youtube. It wasn't her fault that she liked funny cat videos or anything... they just amused her. "So... what about you do? What do you do on a normal day?"

"Ah man, that must suck..........no offense," Neal said as he didn't want to really give Rose a reason to be mad at him. He could only imagine what she would do if he gave her a reason to justify it. "But hey at least you have good old youtube backing you up, I enjoy watching the random videos on there too," Neal added. "Have you seen the baby that laughs at the ripping paper, I think that might be one of my favorites," he said before thinking about Rose's question.

"Well, I mainly go to school then come home to take care of my little sister. My day's a cop so he's out a lot," Neal explained. "So I don't really get too much time to go out myself," he said. He didn't mention that his mom was out of the picture, it wasn't really something that he volunteered.

"No, never seen it," Rose muttered. She had seen it. About fifty times. It still makes her smile. Clearing her throat, she crosses one of her legs over the other, listening to Neal explain about his daily life. Seemed pretty ordinary as far as normal kids' lives went... except for one part. Rose was a smart girl, after all, she didn't just let the fact that he hadn't mentioned his mother go unnoticed. In fact, she'd been waiting for him to mention a mother, but it never came. And now that she thought of it, she didn't think she'd ever seen a woman over at that house. Shifting her posture slightly, she scratches the back of her neck and glances up at him curiously. "Your, uh... your mom...?"

As Rose asked her question Neal just gained a small frown. He didn't plan for it to happen, but it just kind of did. Whenever anyone asked he couldn't help but feel sad. He had only seen pictures, but he had never known her. His dad always said that she was an amazing woman and that she would be proud of him, but the reality was that Neal would never know. His mother was dead, and that's really all that there was to say. "She died a long time ago," Neal said very quickly. It was the only way that he could ever say it to anyone. He blurted it out, and just hoped that they dropped it.

Rose knew she shouldn't have asked the question, and yet she did anyway. Now she just feels dumb. Neal probably thinks she's a jerk, too, for bringing it up, when obviously something wasn't right about it. Shifting uneasily in her seat, Rose moves her gaze to the side, averting his gaze. "Oh... sorry," she said, letting out a small sigh. Sure, her mother was tough and rigorous when it came to teaching her schoolwork, and maybe not the most fun person in the world, but she was still her mother. Rose loved her. If her mother ever died... well, she couldn't imagine it. And yet, here was her neighbor, who she'd never really known before today, and he'd lived most his life without a mother. Life sucks sometimes. "I, uh... I guess I should go back inside now. I... need to eat lunch."

Neal wasn't mad, how could he be? Rose didn't know the situation and she just asked the question that came to her mind. If wasn't like she was trying to cause a problem or bring up a sore spot. "It's really alright," Neal said as Rose apologized. Although he didn't like to talk about it, it wasn't something that caused Neal a lot of discomfort. They were still a family, even if they were lacking a mother figure in the whole thing. They were united and happy and that was all that Neal could ever hope for.

"Oh, alright. Well I hope to see you again some time Rose. It was good to meet you," Neal said with a small smile.

"I'm done!" Slade yelled, pushing passed the colonel in the building corridor. He couldn't recall a time when he'd ever been so angry. After everything he'd done for this country, every questionable order he'd followed, this was the last straw. He was done with it, for good. No more military, no more following orders, he was retiring. End of story. They could kiss his sorry ass if they thought otherwise.

"Slade, now wait just minute!" Colonel Wilkins said, quickening his pace to catch up with the man.

"No, you wait, Wilkins!" Spinning around, Slade pointed his finger right into the man's chest. "If you had any shred of decency, you never would have let that happen! You never would have issued that order!"

"It was necessary, Slade, you know that," the colonel argued. "That man could have sparked another world war, if we hadn't stopped him!"

At those words, Slade winds up his fist and punches the man square in the jaw, knocking him hard to the floor. "And would his son have done that, huh? Just because he could have started a war--not would have, mind you, but could--was that any reason to terminate them both?"

"It was the best chance we had," Wilkins stated, glaring upward while holding his chin. "The only chance we had."

In a sudden burst of rage, Slade takes hold of a nearby end table and flips it over, throwing it against the wall. "That's bullshit, and you know it! First thing you ever taught me, colonel, there's always another way!" Taking in a deep breath, he continues staring down at the man, hotly. Wilkins doesn't try to get up, yet. If he did, Slade would have punched him back down again. "For fuck's sake, Wilkins, the boy was five years old and you had him killed. You're a delusional asshole if you think I'm working for you anymore.

"Slade-" the colonel starts, as Slade turns to walk away.

"Don't even try, colonel," Slade said, without turning back. "Just go screw yourself."

---

Later that night, Rose sat at the kitchen table, just sort of playing with her food. She wasn't really that hungry at the moment, and her mind was on that kid next door, Neal. God, she'd made such an idiot of herself.

Way to go, Rose, the first kid who didn't make fun of you and you act like such a moron.

"Rose, honey, your food is getting cold," Lillian said, looking over at her daughter. Her voice was thick with a Cambodian accent. "You're not eating, is something wrong?"

"Huh?" Rose said, blinking out of her daze. "Oh, uh... yeah, I'm fine. Guess I'm just not that hungry.

"Well try to eat at least a little," her mother insisted. "A growing girl needs her strength, after all."

Letting out a small breath, Rose nodded and took a few bites of her meatballs. One thing about her mother, she's a fantastic cook. A short few moments later, the front door opened. Slade pushed through the doorway, having somewhat calmed down since his outburst back at the military base, mostly because he was coming home to his family, and he didn't want to cause any drama.

"Hey Daddy," Rose said, giving a little wave. For whatever reason, she never called him 'dad'. She'd stopped calling her mom 'mommy' ages ago, yet her father was always 'daddy'.

"Hey sweetie," Slade said with a small smile, as he sat himself down at the table and let out a deep breath. "And hey there, beautiful." Leaning forward, he gave Lillian a quick kiss and then rested his arms on the table.

"How was your day?" Lillian asked.

Slade paused a moment, tapping his fingers. "It was... eventful. But it's over, in any case. As of today, I'm officially retired."

Lillian's eyebrows lifted. "What? But you love your work."

"I know, but I think it's time I stepped away from that life," he said, firmly. "It's... just getting to eat up too much of my time now. Time that I could be spending with my family.

"Are you sure?" Lillian put a hand on his shoulder, trying to get a read off him. "What will we do about money?"

"I wouldn't worry about that," Slade said. "I'll get a nominal pension for my past service, and I can always take a part time job to cover everything else. The hardware store is always looking. Besides, I'll be around here a lot more, gives me a chance to spend some time with my girl."

Rose glanced over at him, just sort of blinking. She'd never known her father to be anything else but a workaholic. A badass workaholic. And now he was just retiring out of the blue? Talk about weird... "I... uh, yeah. That would be cool."

"Good, it's settled then." Slade smiled, grabbing himself a plate. "Now then, what's for dinner?"

---

The next day, some time in the afternoon, Rose and her father were out back in the yard. Instead of beating on a heavy bag, this time, she was beating on him... sort of. She still couldn't even come close to comparing to him, but he was still giving her pointers. It was strange, training with him so early in the day. Normally, after her schoolwork, she'd just work out by herself or watch some television. This was a whole new experience... and it was nice.

"That's it, but pivot your hip more when you kick," Slade said, as he blocked her attack. Of course, he wasn't attacking back, just defending. The last thing he'd do was ever lay a finger on, even if just in a spar. "Most of the power comes from the whipping motion, not your leg strength."

"Keeeyaaah!" Rose shouted again, taking his advice and throwing an even harder kick this time. He raised up an arm to block it, but smiled.

"Better, excellent," he commented. "You've been practicing."