She'd scooted out right at the bell to make sure she'd be able to intercept Marco, since, well, he knew they didn't have plans. He'd almost seemed resigned to it, but then, she hadn't actually mentioned that Skuld would be there...
She wanted to pretend that it was only because Skuld would be there that they wouldn't get to talk, but she knew that Shayera could have found her earlier if she'd wanted. Okay. Obviously it's not a good sign. But she still wants to see you. And it's been.... Jesus, 12 hours since you told her you were in love with her. Maybe she just didn't want to talk about it at school?
But what does she have to think about anyways? I mean, if she's straight she's straight, right?
Okay, that's what I thought when Skuld declared her feelings, and well, here we are.
So maybe she just doesn't love me.
Okay, you have to get your head in the game. Going in circles here doesn't matter. She just needs to have time and space to think. Then you can talk. And if she never wants to talk about it... that's your answer.
"Marco! Over here!
"Can we go for a quick walk?"
Oh. I thought she was heading out shopping with Skuld. Or, sorry, 'the girls'.
He really didn't know what to do. He loved her, but things needed to change. It wasn't Skuld, or, not exactly, but they were barely even friends! He didn't get why she kept insisting on spending time with her unless... No.
But he just didn't get it. He saw her every day at school, she still ran track, and she didn't spend that much more time with her other friends than she'd used to, but every day there seemed to be less and less he knew of what was going on in her life.
He hated that.
Maybe she hates it too? Maybe she's skipping out on 'the girls' to hang out with me?
"Sure. A walk, not a run?"
"Yeah."
They got a little bit from the school on an empty track path before she started. Rip off the bandaid...
"Marco... We need to break up.
"It's not anything you did, but I'm going through a lot of... changes right now, and... you have to be one of them."
"...Oh my God. You brought me out here to break up with me before you go out with Skuld.
"You're really leaving me for her."
"No Marco, that's not... that's not it. I'm not leaving you for her, it's... for me. Because, well, I am gay.
"I'm not dating Skuld, and I don't think I will, but either way - I can't be with you.
I'm so sorry Marco."
She went in to hug him, but he stepped back a pace. "I... God, I'm not mad, but... What, you really just figured this out? It really has nothing to with Skuld."
"It's true, Marco... Can you do me a favor?"
"A favor?"
"Please don't tell anyone yet. I, I still need to figure out how I want-" "Whatever. I. No, I'm sorry. I won't- I hope everything-" The dam broke. The moment his voice finally hitched, he started to cry. Y-you really had to do this in public? Is it that important to go shopping with Her?! Sorry. No, I...
I get it. Or- I don't, but it's, fine. I'm- I'm gonna go.
"I just wish... I wish it mattered that I love you."
***
She was just a little later coming back to the parking lot than she'd planned. Her makeup was touched up again, and her eyes were clear. But it had taken a little longer
God, I'm sorry Marco...
And a dark whisper in her mind added, Now you know how Shayera feels.
Alexandra bristles at the jab at her family. Abject Failures! Wow, they only saved the world about a dozen times between them. The city more. sure they were licentious lushes, gamblers with everything... but failures. No. She leaves the remark and chooses not to throw back a jibe, instead turning back to her food
The rest of the day passed lethargically. another A in English, Another rumor that she was blowing the teacher for grades. One of these days she'd figure out who started it. Also, apparently Alan was going by Alexis now, it looked like the Track star couple was splits, from the look of the guy (Mark? Mario? whatever), and it looked liek Sidney was back at school, the rumor mill around her disappearance only moving faster now.
she skipped out halfway through second-to-last period, and headed for the convenience store on Fifth., and she waited, indulging in what her father termed "stakeout food. the lot is empty, it always was. enough of a gang presence in this area that people didn't loiter, not enough that there would be an gang members nearby... hopefully
when Kenneth arrives she tosses him some cheap junk food too, saying. So, Ninja-Boy, I think we need to hash some stuff out.
As the bell rings and the building disgorges its students for the weekend, Shayera heads to the appointed pickup zone. There, she sees one of her father's drivers, Ms. Quinn, standing next to a 1957 Chevy Bel Air convertible.
As she approaches, Ms. Quinn nods and opens the door for her. Shayera shakes her head. "No, thanks. I've got some friends coming." She then turns around and leans against the gleaming, polished car and kept an eye out for Skuld and Bronwyn.
When the Norse princess comes into view, Shayera jumps and waves to get her attention. "Skuld! Hey!"
When she gets closer, Shayera speaks in a normal volume. "I got a text from Bronwyn; she's going to be a little late."
She scans the rapidly thinning crowd for Bronwyn, keenly aware that she is standing next to her suitor. She shoved aside any potential feelings of awkwardness. This was a team building exercise. Three teenaged superheroes out on the town for a night of fun.
"I'm glad you agreed to come," she tells Skuld. "And don't worry; this whole thing is on me. I've got money that I have no idea what to do with, so the sky's the limit."
Kenneth considered his options as he left the cafeteria. Just cutting class was out of the question, they'd call his parents and he would rather not have that talk. Seeing his physics teacher in the hall settled it, he might as well stick with a lie he already started.
"Mr. Platt, excuse me, sorry to bother you, but I wanted to know if I could be excused from class this afternoon. I'm working on a robotics project and my mom got me some expert help, but they're only available today."
The tall man turned and chuckled lightly. "If I said no you'd probably just do it anyway. Go ahead, I'll mark you as excused, but I expect to hear about a rousing success!" Kenneth wouldn't deny that the teacher's pet persona chafed sometimes, but it could be incredibly helpful in maintaining his cover.
===
Despite the short distance, Kenneth drove the couple of blocks to the convenience store, both to sell the lie and in case he abruptly needed the spare costume in the back. As the neighborhood got worse he began to suspect the latter might be the more important reason. Leaving his car, he kept his eyes peeled for any flashes of color and walked into the alley.
He snatched the bag out the air and examined it briefly. Really? Cool Ranch?
"You're not wrong, let's start with names, because if you keep calling me that I'll have to start calling you Dick-Girl and then we'll see which one the internet picks up." The analytical part of his mind tried to snatch the words back as they came out. Not helping!
"Look, I'm just here to find out if the police interviews had any interesting information. If last night proved anything, it's that there's a lot of power out there but we need to have a direction to point it."
You'd win that one. The internet talks about me a lot more. he witticism centre of her brain supplies, before she bites it back. she had riled the boy enough. Okay, I yield. I've accepted that, as a female superhero, I'll be featured in some weird porn, but I'm not quite ready for Dick girl to be in the top ten results for my name. She snickers a little.
More importantly, I want to know how you knew who I was. Honestly, I got Wingblade and Thor-Girl pretty easily, and Jusker doesn't do secret identities, I guess. I hadn't found anything on you and Shadow-guy. How did you find me? She asks
"I... it's a lot of things, and I probably wouldn't have picked it out specifically if I weren't looking, but, well, I was looking. First, even if I wasn't sure, you confirmed it for me, and if I was wrong, at worst I spend a month building robots with a cute girl. Admittedly I probably would have had to find an actual robotics contest, but Reaver Industries is almost always running one and I could use another opportunity to get in their building."
Despite himself, he continued, counting reasons off on his fingers. "For one thing, you act like me, you're popular enough to not have any enemies, but no close friends either. Also you're on an accelerated track, but are showing absolutely no difficulty with your courses, and you are athletic without having joined any of the sports teams. None of that sticks out, but together it paints a picture."
Pausing, he took an unnecessarily deep breath. "Most importantly though, you're a legacy. While it's not a guarantee, odds are high that you're blood related to the past two Silver Shadows. Across the three of you, there's enough information out there that someone really dedicated could probably figure it out. Using info like that to approach a hero at home is good way for a supervillain to get a lot of hell brought down on their heads, but among teammates its just rude, and I have no problem being rude if it means getting the job done. Really, I try to keep an eye on most of the potential masks at school, you know, Finn, Bronwyn, Vick." He rolled his wrist implying the list went on for a good deal longer.
Kenneth kept a close eye on Alexandra as he finished, gauging her reactions as carefully as possible. Don't push, don't push, just let it go.
Alexandras face is stoic, until the name Bronwyn comes up. she hadn't noticed her.Fair enough, might have to try to camouflage better. Honestly, I was more looking for the other two. figured you'd blend in better. We baselines usually do, and Honestly, Bran is the more interesting. I might have figured something out, but I still don't have any candidates. and you think the little track star is a cape? Alexandra says. she had known about the other two.
Well, whatever, now we've got that out of the way, I've got a couple other things to attend to.I wanna go talk to those two kids and- she stops talking as she tosses a bag into Kenneth's face, obscuring his vision just long enough for her to sucker him in the gut. Last night, I didn't get to see how you fight. I'm curious. She says, going for his wrist
I might have figured something out, but I still don't have any candidates. and you think the little track star is a cape?
"More than think, you should ask Bran about her though. So far I think the Mabinogion reference is just chance, but you never know with gods, or people who think they're gods."
Alexandra's sudden shift in cadence caught Kenneth's attention. No, she's not going to- OOF!
Taking advantage of her quip, Apex recenters his thoughts and shifts his weight into a more open stance. He allowed her to grab his wrist before yanking slightly, pulling her into a textbook aikido grapple.
By pushing her elbow upward, he moved in a controlled circle and broke the grip, allowing her momentum to force her further down the alley away from him. If she wants to continue this, I should use my height advantage. When she turned back, Apex had adjusted his stance, his hands closed into fists and his weight settled on the balls of his feet. If not for his school clothes, he could be the model in a Taekwondo training video.
"You know there are dojos for this type of thing. Or we could find some mugger. Either's good with me really."
"More than think, you should ask Bran about her though. So far I think the Mabinogion reference is just chance, but you never know with gods, or people who think they're gods."
So she is. What powers is our schools darling hiding? she asks, eyebrows quirked. I mean, no way. he's, like, Irish. Irish people don't tan as much as she does.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
as he redirects her first attack, she can't help but smile. Finally, someone other than Dad and Gillian who can go toe to toe with me. this'll be fun.
If I wanted to see how you were in a controlled situation, I would have challenged you, not suckered you. I want to see how you are in a real scrap, like we will be in the field. If I think you're worth taking with me. she says, baiting him into attacking.
She goes low, and moves like she's going to sweep his legs, then at the last moment, her hand shoots out and grabs his hair, wrenching him off balance and opening his ribs for two jabs. she goes for a third, and...
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Dismayed at how quickly she slipped past his guard, Apex struggled to block out the pain in his head. As the second blow lands, he rotated his frame toward his opponent and brought his elbows down tight, knocking away the last shot. Not wanting to waste his opening, Apex tossed two quick jabs to her kidneys and danced back, looking for the next cheap shot.
"You may want to see the real me, but we need some ground rules. Both of us need to be back in school on Monday, so no blows to the face, no breaking bones, and loser owes the winner a secret." At the last condition a wicked grin peeks out between his fists.
Without waiting for a response, Apex darts back towards Silver Shadow, juking suddenly and then opening up with a body combination.
Hmmm, I wouldn't want to mess that face up more than genetics has seen fit to. and I like the stakes, I want to know more about Bronwyn. I accept. She says as he rushes her.
she takes a body-shot, another in a growing collection of aches, but grapples before the rest of the series can hit her, and uses his momentum to throw him shoulder first into the side of the alley she follows up with a jab from her steel-toe in his side
The pickup zone being nearly empty, it was easy to spot Bronwyn when she finally showed. Shayera smiles and waves, then can't stop herself from making a surreptitious glance at Skuld to check out her expression.
Is this going to be a mistake? I sure hope not, she thinks as she sees the open affection on Skuld's face.
She gives Bronwyn a 'hurry up' motion and hops into the back seat of the convertible. "Come on! Skuld, Bronwyn, this is Ms. Quinn, our driver tonight." The chauffeur gives the two girls a polite nod of her head.
"Okay, I'm thinking we hit Praetorian Boulevard first. There's a number of boutiques there that Tiffany says will have just about everything we'll be looking for. You know, dresses, tops, jeans, shoes. Then if we've got time, we could swing by the downtown shopping mall to look at swimsuits -- it won't be too far from there to get to my apartment, and there's a hot tub that I think it'll be great to try out this evening."
Unless there's any objections, she gives Ms. Quinn the go-ahead and the convertible gets them underway.
Bronwyn's smile is broad and genuine when she sees her friends, though there's a moment when a bittersweet note flickers through.
"Sorry I was running late guys!" She returns the nod, "Nice to meet you, Ms. Quinn."
Jumping into the back seat with Shayera, she tried really hard not to sit weird. Just pretend it's yesterday.
"That sounds like a good list to me. Are you shopping for anything special except for the swimsuits? Any special occasions I mean?"
Shayera gulps as they take off through the streets and head toward the dazzling heart of the city. She tries to find and appreciate the humor in the situation as she turns to Bronwyn.
"Funny story. As it turns out, Portia and her crew kind of set me up on a blind date for tomorrow. It's totally bad timing, I know, after all that's happened lately. I mean, I completely expect it to be a disaster, but I think I need to go through the motions, you know? Anyway, it's still a good excuse for a new outfit," she says with an apologetic look to Bronwyn.
"Oh. With who?"
Do Not ask her if she's just politely letting you down.
Do Not ask her why she's apologizing if it's just going to be a disaster.
Do Not ask her not to go.
She knows how you feel. The ball's in her court.
Shayera scrunches up her face as she thinks. "Renae's cousin. Doesn't go to our school. Deshaun? Devaun? Something like that. Anyway, it's like I said. Bad timing." She turns and looks out the window, not able to keep her eyes on Bronwyn.
She's not lying to you, Bronwyn. If she meets up with De-whatever and it's a total Love Connection, but she never lets you meet him, then it's okay to doubt her.
"Well, I hope you have fun. Either way."
Bronwyn really wanted to pat Shayera's leg, squeeze her shoulder, do something to show she cared, but that wouldn't make this somehow more awkward.
"And like you said, new outfit. So what are you guys gonna do?"
When the Norse princess comes into view, Shayera jumps and waves to get her attention. "Skuld! Hey!"
"Greetings." says Skuld as she walks up, returning Shayera's wave with a smile on top of it. When Skuld sees the car with driver, her smile fades as she says "I hope your father will not be joining us?"
As Shayera replied, it was clear that Skuld had carefully prepared her appearance; she was wearing pink nail polish and makeup. Her outfit, while tasteful, was not something that she would normally wear by a long shot. something like this.
It almost looked like she was dressed for a date.
When she gets closer, Shayera speaks in a normal volume. "I got a text from Bronwyn; she's going to be a little late."
At Bronwyn's name, Skuld appears to light up, but she quickly tampers it, then acknowledges the rest of the sentence with a nod.
"I'm glad you agreed to come," she tells Skuld. "And don't worry; this whole thing is on me. I've got money that I have no idea what to do with, so the sky's the limit."
"I think it should be interesting to see how..." she pauses and then looks at the driver "...students in your country purchase clothing. I have been learning from your periodicals that exist for young women what clothes are best to wear. Do you thing this is appropriate?" she asked, clearly hoping for advice.
Shayera shakes her head at Skuld's first question. "No, Dad's finishing up his Asia business trip. He's supposed to be back sometime next week."
She looks over Skuld's outfit with an appraising eye. Her recent dive into the world of teen fashion hasn't made her an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but she can recognize a well-put-together outfit. "It's cute! I like your skirt. Though your hair is so pretty, I don't know if I'd go with a hat unless you have serious bed-head."
While on the drive talking with Bronwyn, Shayera fishes out her phone from her purse and consults the messages she received about tomorrow's date. "He's taking me to some music street festival. 'Heroes of Music' triple stage event. Sounds like it could be fun," she says noncommittally.
When they finally arrive on Praetorian Boulevard, Ms. Quinn pulls up to the curb next to the flashing lights and window displays of the fashion boutiques.
"Thank you!" Shayera waves to the driver, then turns to face the massive arrays of Halcyon's hottest trends. "Ladies, let's shop."
"Where do we start first? Shoes, tops, skirts, or dresses?"
Let's start safe.
"How about shoes?" I don't think I can embarrass myself looking at shoes. "
Shayera looks at Bronwyn with a mad glint in her eye. "Start with the shoes and build the outfit around it? I like it. But that means you gotta go bold! Start with drab shoes, you get a drab look. We can't have that. Come on," she says, grabbing a hold of Bronwyn's and Skuld's arms and tugging them into the first high-end shoe store they come to.
The place is brightly-lit, with thumping base and a chrome-and-steel decor. Rows upon rows of shoes of all shapes and materials are on display. Shayera eyes longingly at the pumps, but ultimately moves to the strappy heeled sandals and boots. She also pulls Skuld in that direction. "If you ever need to take flight, you don't want a thousand dollars of footwear slipping off your feet. Get something with straps," she whispers under her breath.
Turning to Bronwyn she drags her away from the ballet flats. "Nuh-uh. You gotta get at least a few heels. I insist."
A sales person creeps up with a cautiously neutral expression. "Ladies, welcome. Are we just trying on or are we looking to buy?" Shayera arches an eyebrow at the veiled concern that they may be wasting her time. Looking around at the three and four-digit price tags of most of the shoes surrounding her, she gives her a smirk. "Lady, we're looking to clean up." She flashes her bank card and the woman's attitude shifts immediately.
Shayera nods, then points to Bronwyn. "I believe she'd like to view your Louboutins."
I guess I don't have to worry about the straps. Turning into Bran means I won't lose them, but... These are way too much. Agh, she's so excited to do this though! I can't rain on her parade.
She let herself be steered over to the pumps.
Bronwyn didn't really have a problem with the idea of heels, but she was just a hair under 5'10", it didn't take much for her to go from tall to towering. She only had two pairs back at her house, the 1" heels she'd worn at her quinceanera, and the much higher ones that she'd practiced for her dances in. But she'd been a half foot taller than her dad in them, and she'd agreed that the shorter heels would make for better pictures.
Some of the pumps were just ridiculous. Not how high they were, but just some deeply tacky flair. Still, she couldn't deny that there were a few pairs that looked pretty great.
"You're sure, Shayera? You don't think I'd look a little Attack of the 50 Foot woman in these? Normally when I dress up I try to play down the whole height and shoulders thing."
At Shayera's suggestion, Skuld immediately removes the hat. "My apologies. My studies indicated that this was an appropriate accessory; also, what sort of monster would sleep in a bed made of heads, and why would they wear a cloth helmet?"
During the car ride, Skuld glanced between Bronwyn and Shayera and noticed that...something...was going on between the two. She did not, however, say anything, trusting them to work it out themselves.
At the shoe store, Skuld was dumbstruck. How many pairs of shoes does one own here? she thought as she looked down at the only pair of shoes she owned.
Skuld then looked up and nodded at Shayera's comment, then went to look at the strapped sandals. She had decided to give them their space to talk, but returned a few moments later with several pair of stiletto healed strapped shoes, saying "What is the purpose of these long stems on the bottom of the shoe?"
""My apologies. My studies indicated that this was an appropriate accessory; also, what sort of monster would sleep in a bed made of heads, and why would they wear a cloth helmet?"
Shaking her head and purposefully running a hand through her hair to make it stand on end to demonstrate, Shayera says, "No, bed-head is a phrase describing when you sleep on your hair wrong and it looks awful. So you wad it up and stuff it in a hat rather than mess with it to try to get it looking okay."
"What is the purpose of these long stems on the bottom of the shoe?"
Shayera puts a pair on and struts around the store briefly. "They're to give you some height, to put a sway in your hips, and to make your legs look longer. They're also the equivalent to medieval torture devices, but fashion is three parts style, one part pain, according to Tiffany."
"You're sure, Shayera? You don't think I'd look a little Attack of the 50 Foot woman in these? Normally when I dress up I try to play down the whole height and shoulders thing."
Shayera stands in the knee-high boots with a 2 1/2 inch heel she's trying and still looks up at Bronwyn. "Trust me. Take it from a short girl -- I'd kill to be that statuesque. I never understood the whole worry over being too tall--"
Her voice falters when she takes a quick glance over to the six-foot Skuld, definitely more of a height match to Bronwyn. Shayera suddenly pictures her own 5' 3" frame hand-in-hand with Bronwyn and feels for the first time rather self-conscious of her own height. It had never bothered her that her mentor towered over her -- that's what a hero should do. It felt right.
Furthermore, she'd never thought anything against having a much taller boyfriend. That, too, felt right.
But a girlfriend who towered over her? She glances again over to Skuld, and for the first time felt a pang of jealousy. Okay, that's weird. I mean, I haven't even figured out if I... am that way.
She shakes her head clear of those thoughts. She takes herself out of the equation and just looks at Bronwyn rocking the 3" heels. "No, those are awesome. Totally sexy."
Wait, did I just say that out loud??
Shayera spins around and concentrates on her own footwear.
"They're high heels. They're there to give you a few more inches of height, and they'll also naturally tense up your calves, helps give them definition, your, uh, butt too. Try 'em on and walk around in front of the mirror you'll see. Small steps though, especially while you're getting started"
Turning back to Shayera she grinned, dropping her voice at the secret identity bits, "Yeah, well you can fly. So you get to be cute and petite without having trouble getting things off the tall shelves. Now I'm not quite stuck with only shopping at big and tall stores, but let me tell you, just saying statuesque doesn't make it so.
"You'll see when we get to the other boutiques, people talk about Hourglass shapes, Pear shapes, Apple shapes - do you know what the name is for girls with shoulders like this? Inverted Triangles." Her words could have sounded bitter, but there's no hint of it in her smile or eyes. She actually sounds... confident.
"I mean, not like I think I'm some kind of freak - I just know there are some outfits that Do Not Work."
"No, bed-head is a phrase describing when you sleep on your hair wrong and it looks awful. So you wad it up and stuff it in a hat rather than mess with it to try to get it looking okay."
"I have never experienced such a thing. Is it truly a threat to a woman's power?"
"They're to give you some height, to put a sway in your hips, and to make your legs look longer. They're also the equivalent to medieval torture devices, but fashion is three parts style, one part pain, according to Tiffany."
"But how would one maintain their balance, or even be able to run, in such a foolish thing?" begins Skuld, who then stops as Bronwyn begins speaking. When she is finished, Skuld nods and tries them on.
When she takes her first tentative step, the heel breaks under her weight, and she goes crashing down, managing to take out a display in an attempt to right herself.
"Oh!"
Bronwyn rushed forward (heels still on), eyes wide at the disarray and (she hoped not) destruction.
Oh my God, oh my God, those shoes were thirteen hundred Dollars! I just hope none of the display ones were hurt too!
In a flash she was down on the ground, looking for any swelling or bruising "Is your ankle okay, Skuld?" Of course Thor Girl was practically invulnerable, but well, biomechanics were biomechanics.
Shayera teeters over to Skuld and reaches out to help her up. "Let's try some wedges," she says with a bit of a smile. She also doubted Skuld could really hurt herself via footwear, though she had to appreciate the irony if Jimmy Choo managed to do what a giant lava monster could not.
She doesn't worry too much about the destroyed shoe, despite its price; the store would be more worried about its own liability over the loss of one pair of expensive shoes that they could send back anyway.
Since Skuld is so tall, she doesn't push the sky-high ankle breakers. "You need to step lightly, on the balls of your foot. And they're not for running or fighting, obviously. They're for looking good."
After a number of shoes have been purchased and Shayera's bank account is several grand lighter, she looks to her friends. "Ready for round two?"
"You could look at them as balance trainers," Bronwyn suggests with a grin, "but a nice pair of flats might be the better part of valor."
"Still, once you're used to them, they're not that bad." She had the boots she'd worn into the store boxed up with her other acquisitions, and glided out in her new pumps to put her own plunder from the boutique safely in the car. A look of almost grim concentration only vanishes once she puts them down and it's not her fault if they get dropped, but then she's all smiles again.
"Absolutely! They don't actually keep tops, skirts, and dresses each in different stores though, right? I mean, when you're shopping in stores like these?
"And wait, Skuld did you not know the word for bedhead, or do you actually just never get it."
Apex rolled with the kick he'd known was coming. It didn't stop the blow from landing, but it meant his insides weren't turned to mush. Okay, she doesn't just fight dirty, she fights mean. I have no choice but to escalate this first.
Continuing his roll, he feigned weakness as he pulled himself up on a trash can. One, two... As the rabbit punch swung towards his head, Apex spun about, pulling the metal lid into the path of the blow. He capitalized on the surprise by driving the edge of his impromptu shield into the side of her knee, not hard enough to dislocate, but certainly enough to unbalance.
Pulling back, he crouched slightly, covering as much of his body as possible with the trash can lid. He'd only studied HEMA via the internet, but now was as good a time as any to put it into practice.
"You know, if this goes much further, you could get seriously hurt. Maybe you should just give in and we can get back to work."
Aww, sweet of you to worry about me, Nadir. She kicks his shield, knocking it up up momentarily, and hooking his ankle, drawing him off balance. But I can take care of myself.
Her hand darted for his hair... again. a Mistake, she escaped the hold her get her left hand in, but only by putting herself in a position to be shoved into the alley wall. That one would bruise. G$% d&+nit, He's stronger than me, and has at least 2 stone on me. He'll win in grappling, time to get clever.
a bit of flash-paper and thermite is drawn from her pocket, and tossed into the air between her and Apex. As the spot in Apex's vision starts to clear, he feels a pain in his shoulder,a nd oooks to see one of her darts in it.
That one was empty. the next one isn't. Maybe you should just give in,a dn we can get back to work?
Jusker steps into the alley, his amulet in full view, where some stranger is currently flanked by two would-be thieves. No weapons drawn, yet, but one of the men is noticeably bigger than the other. Right before opening his mouth, he remembers what Apex had told him yesterday. Why not. "Mask," he mutters. His eyes and nose become shrouded in pink. "I can get you out of this," he calls out loudly to the unfortunate man, "for all the-- okay, for half the money in your wallet."
"Piss off, kid," one of the assailants retorts with barely a glance in Jusker's direction.
"Whoa, check it out, Cal," the other says after giving Jusker a longer look. "Forget this loser. Let's get that."
The first looks over at Jusker, then at his chest, and clearly agrees. He turns to face Jusker, the original target forgotten. "I'll be needing that necklace, kid. Hand it over and you can live." The third, no longer being threatened, backs up slowly and then runs. Great. So now I get nothing.
"So I guess right now I'm supposed to say something about teaching you the error of your ways. But honestly, I'm just mad that now I get nothing out of this."
"He said, hand it over!" The thinner one pulls out a Beretta pistol and fires, aiming to cripple, the teen notices, but not to kill. "Shield!" Jusker barks. Quick as lightning (and thankfully so!) Jusker's body is encased in armor, made of the same energy that hides his face. The bullet ricochets off, then the second, then the third. The inertia of them pushes the teenager back a few painful steps, but he stays on his feet. The man stops firing and sneers. "Fine. Have it your way."
The bigger man steps forward, his hands crackling with electricity and a smile on his face. Jusker assumes a ready stance. The big man fires a bolt of lightning, but the young super darts to one side just in time. "Beam weapon!" he shouts, pointing his chest at the big man. The energy beam takes the big man off his feet and careening into a brick wall. He crumples to the ground. The thinner one, faster than Jusker would have expected, lands a punch on the side of his head. Dazed, Jusker forces out a word. "Muscles!" Veins of pink energy lance down his arms and legs, and the second blow hardly even hurts. He blocks the third, and a single punch to the gut from Jusker's enhanced arm knocks the wind out of the thin man. The teen follows this up with a hard shove across the alley; the thin man hits another wall and slumps. I'm sure they'll be fine, he thinks as he leaves the ground. Then, changing his mind, he lands and rifles through the pockets of one thug and then the other.
A few minutes later, Jusker emerges from the alley with a pistol to sell and sixty-four dollars cash.
"Still, once you're used to them, they're not that bad." She had the boots she'd worn into the store boxed up with her other acquisitions, and glided out in her new pumps to put her own plunder from the boutique safely in the car. A look of almost grim concentration only vanishes once she puts them down and it's not her fault if they get dropped, but then she's all smiles again.
"Absolutely! They don't actually keep tops, skirts, and dresses each in different stores though, right? I mean, when you're shopping in stores like these?
"Of course not! But there's so many shops!" Shayera explains, then stops Bronwyn from putting away all her boxes of shoes. "No, we need to keep these with us, so we can pick out some outfits that will go with these shoes. The last thing we want to do is get some outfits that we think match, but don't."
With that, the trio hit various boutiques to match and pair their shoes with trendy outfits and cute dresses. Only after a half dozen shops have been hit and everyone's had a chance to try on innumerable outfits, does Shayera finally suggest a break. Bags upon bags are stuffed into the convertible's trunk before they all pile into the back seat to head to the mall.
"Obviously, the mall's not going to have the high-end clothes," Shayera explains, "But Tiffany said there's a few great swimsuit places that we should check out."
She checks her phone for the time. It was a bit later than what she'd hoped, but that was honestly to be expected. "We go to the mall, hour and a half tops, then we check out my new place. How's that sound?"
She'd been so good. She hadn't stared too much while Shayera was trying on shoes, she'd made it through a lot of cute outfits like it was still yesterday, but when Shayera had tried on this one gorgeous dress, there had definitely been a moment.
"Do you know if they have one like that but backless? I just think, well you've seen your back, right?" The exact mechanics of angel-winged flight were a little odd, but however Shayera flew, clearly those muscles were getting a lot of work.
"...and..." She looked around for a moment to make sure no one, not even Skuld, could overhear, "I just think that if you're going to have this beautiful, special occasion style dress, then you should be able to Really fit in it. Anyone would melt on the spot seeing All of you in a dress like this," A brief nod of her head at the empty space above Shayera's shoulderblades, made it clear what she was talking about. The quiet longing in her voice made it clear who she wanted Anyone to be.
Kenneth pulled the dart from his shoulder, frowning at it briefly. Technically, this does qualify as a "kill." I suppose I shouldn't be surprised she took the cheap way out.
"Hmph, why do you even carry empty ones?" He pocketed the dart as he tossed the trash can lid aside, wincing slightly at the movement. A bruise was already beginning to form where she'd kicked him.
"Regarding the matter at hand, I did a little research into the game. 40-card deck minimums and Krakatoa and the self destruct are both limited to one a deck. By the time we arrived both of them were top-decking. It's circumstantial, but all of that points to an intelligence behind whatever happened. While it is possible that both cards came up in one game, happening in that order once we arrived seems... unlikely.
"Also, I wasn't able to find the cards that our companions appeared as, but I didn't look terribly deeply. Those are also suspicious. It might have been a reaction to us taking cards of the field, but it also feels like a way for the players to target interlopers directly. Do you know if your police contact was able to talk to the boys?" Kenneth spent his distraction feeling his ribs where she'd punched him, ensuring they were just sore and not cracked.
Shayera looks wide-eyed at Bronwyn for a half-second, then turns away before her cheeks redden too much. She decides to look over her shoulder at the mirror to view the way the glamour hides her wings and creates the illusion of the back of her dress fully in place, rather than bunched up below where the metallic humerus meet her back.
She didn't understand the magic of the pendant at all, how she could feel her wings' comforting presence even though they are still prevented from interacting with the world. It was almost the same as the harness, only more tolerable.
So, when she wears the pendant, she doesn't have to worry about her clothes being bunched up or bulging, since the magic fixes that.
But Bronwyn wants to see her with her wings on display. Her ears heat up as she thinks on that, and she starts messing with her hair unconsciously.
"Um, okay. Backless. You're right; that's definitely more my style. Uh, thanks for the tip."
I don't, usually. drained that one in case I wanted it. If you start feeling a little... lightheaded, well, It wears off after a couple hours, and it won't be enough to do much, so just ride the high. She says
Alexandra can't help but nod in approval at Apex's research Nice. I was looking into psychic constructs and manifestations. Couldn't find anything definitive. But I don't love those facts. I was hoping this was just a cursed card deck. From what you found... We should go talk to the boys. she takes out a pill-bottle from her centre console. She downs two pills, and shakes it in Apex's direction Want some Vitamin I?
I got Quinlan not to interrogate them last night. Kids were in shock, would have just caused them to clam up. She said I could today after school. Just one stop along the way. don't put on your getup yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In oldtown~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Jusker walks down the street, a girl passes very close to him, winking as asking Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me. before she says, quieter I'm one of the ones from last night, follow me to the car. and walks away
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"Sure"
The word hung in the air for a while, all kinds of possibilities dangling off of it.
But she breathed them away as she said, "But yeah, we should probably head to the mall."
"Is your ankle okay, Skuld?"
As Bronwyn began inspecting her ankle, Skuld blushed, but didn't say anything. When she was asked, Skuld said "I belive I am unhurt, which is more than I can say for these shoes."
The heels were definitely destroyed; the display, however, looked like someone had dropped several hundred pounds of weight on it.
"And wait, Skuld did you not know the word for bedhead, or do you actually just never get it."
"I have never experienced it; does it hurt?"
Ultimately, Skuld decided to get two pairs of shoes, both of them lacking any sort of heel.
"Ready for round two?"
"I believe we have acquired what we came here for."
Likewise, at the various botiques, Skuld only picked out at most two to three things.
After making the rounds, Skuld placed her bags in the back along with the others, and after hearing of the plan for a mall trip, said "If I understand it correctly, isn't a mall just a large enclosed bazaar? Why were the shops we were just in not in such a place?"
"Also, why do you need clothing to swim?"
Of course Skuld hasn't ever had bedhead. If her hair ever got tangled I bet cartoon birds would swoop down to brush it out. Bronwyn's eyes glimmer with amusement while she explains, "Bedhead can feel unpleasant, but just like that fall, it mostly just hurts your pride." And I guess that whole display
"Well, stores like the ones we were in cater more to people who know exactly where they're going. The mall's mainly for stores that want people to... wander...in..." She trailed off as Skuld kept up with her questions.
Ears already pinkening, she couldn't help but ask, "Skuld, did you think we were going to get into the hot tub while we were still in our normal clothes?" She couldn't even bring herself to ask about what she knew Skuld had meant.
"You don't--" Jusker begins at Alex's comment, but catches himself when she mentions yesterday. "Oh yea?" What was her name in costume? Silver Shadow, I think? I wonder what she goes by the rest of the time. He decides to follow her, figuring that if he's going to be part of the same team he should at least find out what she has to say. Worst case scenario, I could bust out of a car.
"Mask off," he mutters once he climbs into the vehicle. His face reappears from behind its shimmering shield. "So what's this about, and how did you find me? I mean it's a big city." Part of him is still thinking about the pistol-- he doesn't need it as a weapon, of course, but those things are worth a whole lot more than the cash he'd just found. He can eat like a king now, the good fat kind.
Shayera blinks at Skuld. "It's clothing made for getting wet. For swimming in. It's tight against your body -- well, most of it is -- so you can swim. Different materials, different styles. Granted, a lot of the one pieces look like superhero tights, but that's just a coincidence, I'm sure."
Once at the mall, the boxes and bags of the enormously expensive clothing and shoes remain with Ms. Quinn in the car. The trio passes by the food court and the other myriad shops to hit the first of the three swimwear boutiques at the downtown city mall.
Thinking on what Bronwyn said to her earlier despite herself, Shayera gravitated toward the backless one piece suits.
Bronwyn stalled a little bit. Pretty dresses and cute heels were one thing, but especially since they would be hot tubbing together in these, it kinda felt important to pick the right suit.
Okay, that is just a few pieces of string with delusions of coverage - I'd be lucky to wear that and cause only two aneurysms (Her papá and Skuld)
She looked over at Shayera doing her own browsing, Would she like to see me in something like this?
Come on Bronwyn! You can't put your thumb on the scale. That's not how this works.
She put the micro-kini back, she didn't think anyone had seen her looking at it, which was good. She really didn't want to talk to a sales assistant about that.
Should I even go buy a two piece? I know I promised myself I'd do it the next time I got a bathing suit, but that was just to help work myself up to competing in track briefs. And then I didn't go swimming, and I got over running in my uniform.
It would show off my abs though... No, you know what? I'll just ask them what they think. We're all shopping together, it's only weird if you make it weird.
Or if you think about the fact that if Shayera walked up to Skuld and professed her love to her we'd have an equilateral love triangle pretending that hot-tubbing won't be fraught.
Nope! Not weird - sticking to it!
She gathered up some options, an off-the-shoulder one-piece that she thought looked interesting, a standard racer's suit, a couple different pretty, full coverage bikinis in different colors, and a single string-bikini with a bee graphic that she thought was too cute not to consider. Go Hornets...
"Skuld, Shayera. Help. I can't pick."