Beneath his helmet Bran was grinning like a loon. I think even Shayera was surprised!
His thundering run came to a quick turn as he ducked into a thickly wooded copse where line of sight should be obscured.
Chuckling slightly to himself he removed his helmet, reaching up inside the great helm, just next to where he keyed his comm-unit to a handmade cellphone holster.
Gingerly he slid Bronwyn's phone out and laid it on the grass next to him before with an effort of will, Bran the Blessed was Elsewhere...
...And Bronwyn Pascal was here.
She reached over to her phone, backing out of the locked screen with three pre-recorded voice lines she'd keyed up. Didn't even have to use "No! Focus on the mission!"
I'll have to replace the other two though. Too many super sleuths and nosy boys to leave **that** obvious a trail.
She set off to rejoin the team at her competition 200 meter pace. Nothing near her real top speed of course, but it was fast enough without looking like it should be an unsustainable sprint.
"Mercy, as long as K's close, he's probably safer not being in your midst where people would suspect he's a cape. Cass- umm, C'd probably be best for verifying little miss helpful if you're getting a bad vibe. With all the magic-y stuff going around any everything at least."
Mission's not done til everyone's safe. We got the kidnapper... Probably he had a portal or something somewhere? If he could just teleport or disappear he would've done that instead...
"...So, where was the kidnapper running to when you were chasing him earlier? It was probably either to transportation or a hiding place. Either one might help us find the people he took."
"Yes, I'm Wingblade," Shayera says to the woman in a practiced authoritative voice, deliberately suppressing the wonderment at this person's lack of recognition of her. She was pretty recognizable with her metallic wings.
Wingblade keeps her senses alert in case this is a trap. "Do you have any information for us?"
Still giving Cassie and Mercy a wary eye, the girl nods. "Yes, I do. I know where the ambassador is. I know where all of them are. But..." She pauses, and locks eyes with Wingblade. "I need you to listen and pay attention."
It's involuntary, like a tapped knee or a sneeze. Wingblade's entire perception of the world suddenly narrows down to only this girl, only her face. For all intensive purposes, the rest of Halcyon has disappeared. There is only her, and she demands absolute focus.
Her annoyingly flawless face gains the touch of a smirk. "Okay. Now, you are not afraid. I will tell you where 'Tad is keeping everyone, but first, tell me where Encantado is."
Her attention shifts to the other two heroes at the scene. "You two, stand still and don't talk."
- - -
Hearing Bronwyn over the comm, Shaun tries to take his mind off Alexandra's questions and responds. "Uh, he was runnin' dockside. We caught up with him at a lake 'bout, uh...halfway-ish into ta' park? It was pretty deep from what I noticed. Might be a good place to hide somethin', 'specially since the bastard could turn into an octopus."
Terrible place to run if you can't use it to escape... Lake it is.
Pouring on a little extra speed, Bronwyn quickly arrived at the section of shoreline that still bore the torn up turf of their earlier conflict.
"Okay guys, I'm gonna take a quick look. Won't be able to respond on comms, but umm, if you hear a loud gurgling sound, come quick? If it's just three feedback-y pulses, come quick and quiet."
She kicked off her shoes, and tucked her phone down somewhere near the toes, then, after a long moment of reminding herself that it wasn't that weird to go running in just a sports bra, pulled off her shirt and dove in.
She wasn't really an expert swimmer, but she had the lung capacity of a pearl diver, and strength and coordination did a lot to bolster amateur technique.
Still, better than even chance I regret this.
"Copy that, B." It was too bad Kaoru didn't have trackers on the entire team (yet anyway). While she wasn't sure she'd get there in time to help Brownwyn if she needed it, she bet she'd be pretty good at coordinating people. Actually, if she got stats about team members, she could easily write an algorithm that could calculate each person's time to arrive at any given location. She sighed. She doubted she could get people to cooperate enough to get the data she needed anyway. Though she might be able to extrapolate a few things if she really put her mind to it. But, well, what was the point? It wasn't like she was planning on sticking around.
Her pace slowed once more as she continued to watch her phone. Blah, blah, blah, talky, talky. Her inability to hear what was going on with the psycho was a little annoying. Annoying enough that she considered trying to download lip-reading software right then and there (I mean, it has to be a thing, right? Research to help the deaf?), but the more rational part of her brain knew that even if she found it, the camera angle was all wrong. High up like her drone was, the only reason she could even tell they were talking was because the drone was off to one side.
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Wingblade gives the woman a shrug. "I don't know who that is. So, tell me where 'Tad is keeping everyone.' Now. Please."
Alexis stands and doesn't speak, though he wasn't really paying attention, lost in his thoughts at the moment trying to figure out how to reach Kaoru when he apparently didn't want to be a part of the team. He seemed more responsive to his e-mails at least. Maybe he should try and address his issues that way.
Though that was when he realized that his cell phone was now a fused piece of glass and plastic where she had burned up. That could be a problem for replying to Kaoru. He was glad Shayera made her get two extra phones in case one of them broke. She had thought it would be crushed or broken some other way. He guessed he could use the new one when he got back home after the mission.
The girl's expression is priceless. "You don't...? Oh, damn it! Ugh, af hverju er ég með verstu heppni?" Her facade completely dropped, she crosses her arms and gives Wingblade a sour expression. "...fine. Lake Darkhawk, near the beach. There's a tunnel into an air pocket cave. They'll be there, but I don't make any promises about what state they'll be in. He never intended to leave..." A flicker of what might be genuine concern crosses her face before her Mean Girls-esque stare resumes. "Happy now Chicken Wings? Can I go?"
- - -
As Bronwyn plunges into the water, she's enveloped by the warm, algae-laced lake. As a few fish and tadpoles scatter away from her, she swims for the true plunge of the lakebed and begins her decent. The bottom is pitch black for a moment, then resolves into a carpet of mossy greens, grey stones, and sunken logs.
Almost immediately, she spies the mouth of a cave about twelve feet beneath her, a veil of hanging water plants acting as a living curtain. She could make it to the cave, which seems like a good place to start looking, but her air supply would be to about half, and there's no telling from this angle how far in it goes.
Alexandra sighs Yeah. I'm the smart one usually. but, I figured a more objective perspective, that of someone who didn't come up with the plans. She says I... don't know I know the ambassador is important, but.... it feels wrong to sacrifice a kidnapping ring for her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4 years of training... gods, that was longer than my intensive stuff, and I also learned detective-ing and parahumanology. She says. it had taken her 2 years to go from "Talented civilian" to "Silver shadow Candidate", But, hey, he Is a better fighter than you, a little. and you're clever, learn fast.. Worst two years ever. waking up early, going to bed tired and sore... So, Who in the black hells was your tutor, F*$!in' Scathach. She says, pronouncing it Ska-Hawk (ish). Or... like, the Scottish equivalent cause she's Irish, but you know what I mean.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can't help what I notice.... she says and generally... across the street is self harm. she traces her finger across his arm shortways. and down the street is a suicide attempt. And she traces along his scars
You don't have to tell me anything. but if you want to... I'm a PI, I've heard worse. she says
10 seconds one way or the other isn't going to make a difference at this point.
Bronwyn resurfaces, taking several deep breaths to saturate her lungs for her next dive. "Likely looking grotto. Heading back down for a closer look."
Back down she went, kicking hard as she rocketed down towards the cave. It'll be faster coming back up than heading down, so I've got a couple minutes before I'll need to start heading back up. Can't be **that** windy a tunnel if it's all beneath this lake.
Wingblade arches an eyebrow when the girl seems frustrated, but doesn't interrupt her when she tells her where the abductees are. She throws up a finger to indicate that she's not done with her yet while she keys on her communicator to include the team's frequency as well as the Defenders' and the SCA's. "Missing are in an underwater cave in the lake by the beach. Get a diving crew quick. There's no telling how much air they have left. K? Comms were compromised earlier, make sure this message is getting through? Thanks."
While she wanted to race off and help Bronwyn, Wingblade wasn't a swimmer and her girlfriend was honestly in the right place to confirm what the blonde girl just told her. She turns her attention to this person, allowing Bronwyn to do her job.
Giving her a narrowed glare to tell her what she thought of the name "Chicken Wings," she takes a step closer and makes sure she gets a good look at her bladed feathers. "No, I think you need to answer a few more questions. As in, who you are, how do you know where the kidnapping victims are, and why are you helping now?"
Kaoru quickly looked around and took a seat on a nearby bench, pulling out her laptop as she went. She could look for interference. But it was probably easier just to demand a confirmation and see if she got it. She quickly tapped into the frequency used to communicate with the SCA and sent a message to them, modulating her voice deeper and giving it...hmm, how about a Brooklyn accent? "SCA, please confirm receipt of Wingblade message."
After she completely annihilated the interference (like a total boss. In her mind's eye, there were definitely sparks and things exploding), she repeated Wingblade's message to the SCA and her request for confirmation. "Ah've fixed the interference, so yous guys should have no troubles communicatin' no more."
Cassie stood watching as the girl and Wingblade traded words. She wanted to speak, to do something to help, but something about the girl's words had been difficult to resist and she didn't seem to be able to act. The compulsion was powerful but the words had been very specific. Maybe she couldn't speak or move, but she could, at least try to figure out what was happening.
Narrowing her eyes, Cassie concentrated on the girl's aura.
"SCA confirming. Copy that Wingblade," a stern voice replies over the radio. "Crew will arrive in 15 minutes."
Meanwhile, Wingblade's command seems to leave the girl unfazed as she flips her hair back and puts a comically thoughtful finger on her lip. "Questions? Well just let me think then! Oh what secrets we can share!" She rolls her eyes and studies her nails. "No thanks Chicken Wings. This girl's got no interest in going in the tank again. So how about you just go find the missing people and stop wasting my time."
She turns to leave, the looks back over her shoulder at Cassie and Mercy. "Oh, right. The dead weight. You two can move, and make sure Wingblade doesn't try to catch me." Her eyes lock briefly with Cassie's, then she smiles in a sickly-sweet manner. "Hm. I like you. Go get yourself something nice."
- - -
Pushing past the curtain of greenery, Bronwyn can see a roughly-hewed tunnel twisting away from the entrance diagonally, like looking a curly straw from the inside. Undaunted, she follows the twisting tunnel, which very quickly turns downward entirely and becomes very dark...
Just as Bronwyn can feel her lungs starting to demand air, the tunnel takes a hard turn and opens up into an underground basin. Breaking the surface, what greets the heroine is...rather unexpected.
The first notable oddity is the illumination; the cave is brightly lit by a warm, orange-hued light emanating from somewhere on shore. The shore itself is rocky, but is mostly overtaken by a wooden barrier of some kind made of moldy planks and pieces. What appears to be a door salvaged from the trash heap sits off-kilter on rusted hinges, providing the only clear means past the barrier. A similarly constricted "dock" floats in the water, a comically pink garden gnome in sunglasses tottering on its edge like a diver preparing to jump.
Yet the oddest aspect of the cave is the music. A distant yet energetic tune hums from somewhere behind the barrier. There is no signs of life otherwise, nor indeed any other sounds. Only Bronwyn's quiet splashes, and the echoing music.
- - -
"Huh. Well, uh...I mean, did we have ta' give up ta' ring f'him? Ye' had trackers right? Ya' could've tagged one of 'em while gettin' him back?"
~~~~~
Shaun is visibly impressed. "TWO years!? F~#$, talk 'bout intensive! I've spent most've my life in trainin'..." He clears his throat and tries to ignore his sudden feeling of inferiority. "Uh, my Gran'da' trained me. Will MacGregor. He's ex-SBS, did merc work f'a bit, runs a "proper" Scottish bar, loves fightin' almost as much as he loves scotch." Despite the admiring tone he says this in, Alexandra picks up a underlying sadness in the way he describes his grandfather...
~~~~~
His expression is dark and hollow as he feels Alexandra's finger run down his arm. "...look, it's not...I mean..." He sighs. "...I don't want what I felt when I made those cuts comin' back, okay? I don't...I don't wanna go back ta' that place..." He quiet for a moment. "But...thank ya'...f'carin'..."
Gulping past the lump in his throat, the Scotsman assumes a neutral expression as the duo finally reach the end of the alley. There is indeed a medical station set-up for a small crowd of former park-goers. There are no gurneys (Oh thank God...), but there is an new SCA van parked across the street. There's also a small flock of news vans, all with crews filming the park as reporters...well, report.
Thankfully, a first responder notices the new arrivals before the media does. A young woman in EMT dress jogs up, and before she says a word Shaun pipes up: "We've got busin' on the abdomen, possible broken rib, havin' issues walkin'."
He passes Alexandra over to the woman, who gives him a surprised look. "...and you, son?"
"Me? Oh I'm fine."
The EMT's gaze rests on the wooden piercing in Shaun's arm, then moves to look at Alexandra questioningly. "Is he always this oblivious?" Ignoring the red-head's indignant expression, she wraps her free arm over Shaun's shoulder. "C'mon tough-stuff, let's get you both patched up."
- - -
The haze of magic made it so that no single enchantment would just spring out to her eyes so she peered carefully at the barriers and the surrounding environs. She was pretty hard to affect with magical what-nots, But like I just saw: Sometimes 'hard to affect' just means 'affected weirdly.'
And if I'm alone in here for now, I can't just bull ahead if I'm gonna rescue anyone...
"Definitely something weird down here. I'm gonna take a closer look. Bran's free for backup if need be, but it might be hard to get everyone out of here. It was a pretty serious swim..."
So, eyes peeled, she kept moving forward towards the door, poised to switch to Bran at the first inkling that some dweomer might need to be dispersed.
As Bronwyn approaches the egress, the music becomes a bit clearer. It's definitely Portuguese, and from what she can understand the song seems to be about a sailor pinning for his home on land, but at the same time his addiction to the sea. It's a surprisingly cheery tune for how somber the subject matter is. The singer does an excellent job of giving it charm.
The door lacks a lock of any kind and could be easily swung inward. Or broken down, depending on one's preference.
Kaoru considered her options. She could go to the lake but there wasn't really anything she could probably do there. Plus she might run into camera crews. She could continue to monitor the girl, but Wingblade was talking to her and probably had it well in hand. Plus something something secret identities. Things looked pretty well wrapped up or well in hand. So she put away her computer, also pulling off shoving her one-sleeved shirt in her backpack as she did so, leaving her just in a short-sleeved t-shirt. For good measure, she also pulled on her headphones. Even if they weren't playing anything, they should provide a reasonable excuse to ignore anyone who approached her. Then she continued her search for a Walgreens or a similar store that would have simple first-aid supplies on sale. She kept her drone where it was though, just in case.
Singing means magic... Especially if I have to fight my way through things, I really shouldn't do that as Bronwyn.
So though she nudged open the door...
...Bran the Blessed squeezed through.
She's controlling you.
The words were compelling her, now that she was asking Mercy to do something that he didn't want to do. The obvious solution, then, was to prevent her from getting to his senses.
"Baffler," He uttered, before the helmet's lenses blacked out and the audio feed was cut from the outside. He was out of practice with using this feature. Blindfighting was not his specialty in any way, but at least he wasn't under her thrall. He wasn't exactly in a position to stop her from running either.
He could, however, reach out for where Cassie was last and grab her to keep her from following the girl's command. Wingblade needed her opportunity to shake off her own compulsion. "Cassie, she's magic. She's trying to trick us," He said as he pulled her into a gentle embrace. He certainly wasn't thinking about how it might look from the outside, though. He clapped his gloves over her ears, pulling her in closer, hoping it would help put the compulsion in check.
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Wingblade seethes at the blonde's haughty attitude. Her mouth twists into a scowl as she balls her hands into fists and her wings twitch menacingly.
"Okay, listen here: Call me 'Chicken Wings' one more time and you'll be skewered like a rotisserie--"
"Crap. I don't have time for this. The mission comes first. Thank you for your cooperation," she sneers, then takes flight to help the rescue crews.
Something nice Cassie thought, as her mind turned to a dress she'd seen in the window of her favorite store. Not one of the ones she had to shop at now days, but one of the ones from,... before. She knew the thoughts were prompted by the girl's words, but didn't really care. She did want something nice.
Cassie's thoughts were cut off by Mercy's warning. "Well. Of course she's ma.." she began to say, before her words were abruptly cut off by the boy grabbing her and pulling her against himself and then clamped his hands over her ears.
"What are you doing? Let me go." she said, unaware that he wouldn't be able to hear her. As she looked up into the blank lenses of the fighter's battle armor, she tried to pull away, her efforts futile against his far greater strength. She was uncomfortably aware of the press of his body against her own....
Something nice,..?
It hadn't been that hard for Kaoru to find a nearby convince store, and while it was clear that the focus was on trying to lure people headed to the park into buying sunscreen or picnic blankets, it did have the basics present in almost every store like it. The first thing she tossed in her basket was a new first aid kit for herself to be carried around at all future points in time. The next thing she did was to grab extra of whatever she had used from Shaun's kit. Which mostly meant some extra rubber gloves since Shaun was an oblivious a@~&$@@ who hadn't thought to whip out the kit until after she had ruined a perfectly good shirt to make an impromptu bandage. And really, once she had done that, there was no point in also pulling out bandages for the injured man, especially given that doing so would have required releasing the very important, blood-clotting pressure she had been applying to the wound. And really, using the gloves had probably been overkill anyway since if the man had had any bloodborne pathogens, she had already been exposed. No one else had been nearly as badly wounded. Though she had also used a couple of those quick, antiseptic wipes and some random bandaids, all of which she carefully bought replacements for.
After she paid, she found a bench on the edge of the park and carefully replaced everything she had used to make it appear as if the borrowed first-aid kit hadn't been used at all. Partially because she didn't believe in taking handouts but mostly because that would underscore how incredibly pointless Shaun's efforts had been, which would feel pretty satisfying. As far as she had seen, Shaun had accomplished absolutely nothing this entire mission. The image she had gotten from security cameras had been better than the crudely drawn picture of their target he and Alexis had gotten. Cassie had narrowed down potential targets with her magicks. She had distracted the Suited Soldiers with her comm trick while Wingblade had captured the target. Silver Shadow had placed trackers on the enemy. Wingblade and Alexis and even to a lesser extent Bran had dealt with the harpies and pig people. And she was the one who alerted Wingblade to the psycho who knew where the abductees were. So really, what purpose had Shaun served at all?
The thought gave her a nice, warm feeling in her chest. Happiness? Pride? Really, there was something just incredibly satisfying about knowing that she had been both useful and competent when she didn't even want to be here while Mr. Bend-Over-And-Grab-His-Ankles-For-The-Whip wannabe hero had been completely inconsequential. She couldn't help but smirk a little at the thought. Sure, the mission would have been better if she hadn't had her life threatened, first by the human bore and then by Duncan, but she had gotten out of the situation completely on her own (and would probably never have to interact with Duncan again anyway). She hadn't needed to be rescued even once. She hadn't made anything worse. By all accounts, this mission had been a resounding success for her.
As Wingblade takes to the sky, the girl gives her mockingly petite hand wave. "Oh no, thank you..." She rolls here eyes at Cassie's unexpected wrestling match with Mercy, then adjusts her shawl. "Well, that's my good deed for today I think. Time for some lunch. Let's talk another time, hm? Have a bit for fun with...whatever it is you two can do.". With a confident strut, the mysterious girl disappears back into the park.
- - -
The door swings open to reveal...a party?
Well, the remains of a party at least. Constructed of simple brick and stone, the mock-plaza laid out before Bran is half-buried under brightly colored streamers and shimmering confetti. A table piled high with atrocious-looking (and smelling) foodstuffs rots in a corner, displayed like a food bar at a potluck. The center of the plaza is dominated by a circular fountain, atop which sits a glass ball that shimmers like a setting sun, casting the ever-present orange glow.
Behind the fountain, a jury-rigged boom box sits on a wooden stool. Resting on the stool is an acoustic guitar, which seems to play along to the song via invisible hands. Behind even that, a notably well-constructed clay house rests against the back wall, the glass in its Windows reflecting the colors painted on the inside of the barrier. A quick glance reveals that the barrier is decorated with a breathtaking mural of a jungle and coastline, painted in such vivid detail that is almost seems lifelike.
As the giant takes in the unexpectedly normal(-ish) scene, there's a loud thump from the house as something heavy hits the door from the inside. The music continues unabated.
- - -
Bran carefully steps closer to the house, gently opening the door as he calls out, "Hello? I am Bran the Blessed. I am here to return you to your families."
Kaoru glanced at her phone screen. It looked like Wingblade and co were done with the blonde bimbo. She directed her drone to head back in her direction. While she waited for its return, she once more turned the locating ability off on her comms before calling a lyft home. She probably wouldn't come up against Duncan again in the little-over-3-weeks of her mandatory hero-ing (assuming the Dominatrix kept to her word anyway. And that Delphi agreed with that. And Wingblade. ...damn, that's a lot of ifs. But that was a separate problem). But she couldn't guarantee it. And like dad used to say, Fail to plan, and you plan to fail. Which meant she should probably try to find some leverage on the guy. Or possibly his boss since he basically seemed to be little more than a tin soldier following orders.
Should she...ask Alexandra for help? Not that she really needed it, but well, the company might be nice. She chewed her lip as she considered texting her. Alexandra was smart, but she almost certainly wasn't as familiar with the dark web or backdoor hacks as her. Not that those would be the first thing she did; only an idiot immediately started research with the most dangerous options when there were plenty of perfectly legal data sources to check out first. But it didn't exactly seem right to ask her over to help if she didn't have some idea of how she could help. What if she just thought she had be asked over to for...other stuff? Not that that hadn't been...what it had been. Nice? Incredibly confusing? Stressful? And while Alexandra seemed to think that whatever her video search had been about was trivial enough to be put aside in favor of teaching a clueless hacker, this project might not be. If Duncan did show up again and she didn't have leverage on him, he might end up hurting Silver Shadow in their next confrontation. Or both Alexandra and Bronwyn as her associates in revenge for her hacking attempts.
She shook her head, reaching up to grab her returning drone and put it in her backpack. No, as nice as Alexandra's company might be, it would probably be best if she weren't distracted. But...she should probably at least let her know that she was leaving. She quickly pulled up their conversation history and sent her a text.
> Hey, things seem about wrapped up at the park. I'm going to head home and continue that video search for the poster-people that you wanted.
> Holler if you need me.
She paused. She shouldn't. She really shouldn't.
> Or if you want to hang out or something.
God she was weak. Shaking her head, she climbed into the arriving car and headed home.
Mercy held onto Cassie until she stopped struggling. It felt too calm now. He couldn't sense anything happening. "Baffle off," He whispered, his sight and hearing returning, only to see with dismay that Wingblade and the stranger were gone.
He let go of Cassie, frustrated that he couldn't help even after having died. On the other hand, it was probably good that they had targeted her instead of one of the others. He wasn't sure anyone else could have survived that. They certainly wouldn't have come back. Except perhaps Shayera.
"...we should find the others." He suggested, tapping the comm for Shayera. "Where did you go?" He asked.
Giving up her struggle, Cassie let Mercy hold her uncomfortably aware of the press of their bodies. Finally, the lenses of the his battle helmet switched from black and he let go of her, allowing her to pull away and, once again, straighten her clothes. Cassie started to say something about not grabbing her, again, but decided it would more than likely be futile, and so instead, replied.
Yeah. We should find them. But later we need to talk. OK?"
As the giant opens the door to the house, he can feel a weight pressing against it as it swings inward. The interior is lit by a large lantern having from the celling, illuminating a dusty main hall practically covered by yellowing family photos. Of greater note however is the woman lying on the rug in front of Bran, her arms and legs bound and a cloth gag in her mouth.
Almost immediately, Bran recognizes Ambassador Esmeralda.
As soon as she hears Bran's declarations, she worms her way over to him and instantly presents her bonds. As soon as they're broken, she rushes over to the boom box and guitar kicks them both to the ground, and smashes them to pieces with the stool. Breathing heavily, she turns back to Bran. "Obrigado. Now, call a med team." She rushes back inside, running through an open archway into a dinning room with an exceptionally long table.
Seated at the table, bound to their chairs, is every missing person.
Most of them looked dazed, as though they've just woken up from sleep. A few however look comatose, remnants of foam dripping from their mouthes as they lean limply in their seats. The ambassador runs to each of the comatose in turn, checking their pulses as she goes. "When that bastard left, he put that music on to keep us sedate. Then about an hour ago, something happened. The music changed, and they started shaking." She reaches the last of them, then releases a held breath. "They're alive, graças a Deus..."
* * * * *
Over the next few hours, with the help of Bran and Wingblade (plus a construction crew to open up the cave), each of the abductees is successfully recovered. While most, including the ambassador, suffer only minor abrasions and slight dehydration, five of the victims are utterly unresponsive. A brief check of missing person's records shows that they were the first five to go missing.
The five are moved to Halcyon General and placed under Dr. Arkane's care. They (along with Encantado) are stable but comatose for the foreseeable future. Encantado in particular is not expected to wake up anytime soon, as his acid burns were deep and effect vital organs. Strangely, the mage's clothes disappear from the hospital shortly after his arrival.
Interviews with the conscious abductees are rather vague, as most of them seem to have been under the shapeshifter's spell almost from the start. The ambassador however paints a much clearer picture. Apparently she had been mistakenly kidnapped, as Encantado had panicked after realizing she was with her child. His panic had weakened his hold on her, and she had managed to leave the doll as a clue and attempt an escape (which was interrupted by Bran).
As for the suits, Erymanthian is taken to a hospital and stabilized, however he is still delirious from pain medication and may not be suitable for interrogation for a few days. His remaining pig-men have to be sedated after a time, as they seem to be convinced that someone is going to come and kill them. They might still have valuable information, but for now they are being held at SCA HQ.
Ambassador Esmeralda and her daughter are reunited privately, large at the demand request of Mr. Sousa, who spends no time "requesting" a private discussion with Whippoorwill about the team. Thankfully, he has the sense to ignore the press, who have begun ravenously pursuing any and all Defenders for any information about the "new teenage hero team" seen at Waterfront Park.
* * * * *
"Could this perhaps be a return to-?" The TV clicks off as Salamander sighs contentedly. He sets the remote down and picks at the pile of raw meat beside him.
At the entrance to the room, the thin figure clears his throat. "A-Are you c-certain sir? Erymanthian i-is a Janus sir, w-we should-"
The chunk of flesh in the man's fingers lights up in flame. "Are you questioning me helot?"
"N-N-NO! N-No sir! I-I-I simply thought-!"
"Don't. Thinking is my job. Your's is to make sure the idiot's soul is stripped by the end of the week." He popped the roasted beef into his maw and chewed nosily.
"Y-Yes sir..." With a soft click, the door closes behind him.
Salamnder sighs again as he brazes another cube absentmindedly. Sprawling across the velvet sofa, he turns his head to take in his long-sought prize.
Sealed in a frame of glass and wood, a still-soggy pelt slightly steams its display case.
"Target acquired, mission complete." A juicy crunch as he snacks. "One less thing to be nagged about when she gets back..."
- - -
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Wingblade was laser-focused on the task of finding the missing people. She ignored her comms whenever someone used them for anything other than the rescue mission. Bran's muffled report of the underwater cave had her circling over and around the pond pinging his location until she had a decent idea of where it might be. She then put her enhanced senses to work, sniffing and listening until she was able to locate small air vents.
She then hung around anxiously as the excavators moved in and knocked a hole into the cave. She barely acknowledges her mentor when Whippoorwill drops in to observe.
"You're unusually focused," the Defender observes.
"I have to find the missing people," Wingblade responds, not looking up from the hole being slowly expanded.
Whippoorwill's mouth twists. "You have. Look at me."
She shakes her head. "No, gotta find the missing people."
"Bran reported that they're alive. We're getting them as fast as possible. You-- Who told you to find the missing people?"
Wingblade's wings twitch anxiously. "You did. And the blonde."
"A blonde told you to 'find the missing people'?" When Wingblade nods her head, Whippoorwill grimaces in annoyance and pulls out a tiny bottle from a pouch. She uncorks it and waves it under her nose.
Wingblade's reaction was instant. She recoils from the incredibly strong scent, waving her arms and coughing. "What'd you do that for?"
"You were given a compulsion. Feel better?"
The Protege stifles a sneeze, then rubs her watering eyes. "Oh, man. What the hell happened? I couldn't think of anything else!"
Whippoorwill studies Shayera's eyes. "This blonde got you pretty good. What can you tell me about her?"
Wingblade thinks back. "Not a lot. Never seen her before. Very pretty. Almost as pretty as Skuld."
"Can you remember what else she told you to do?"
"Umm, she wanted me to tell her where someone called 'Encantado' was. Come to think of it, she might have been talking about the target. Never did catch his name."
Whippoorwill is immediately on her communicator. "Alert the guards around the kidnapping suspect. He may have someone with mental persuasion powers after him. Mind control protocols should be followed." She turns back to Wingblade. "Anything else?"
She shakes her head as she thinks back. "No, but Mercy and Hex were near her-- Mercy!!" Her eyes go wide and her head snaps up. "I gotta-- I've been-- Crap! My team!"
Wingblade launches herself into the air and starts pinging her teammates. Kaoru had predictably cut his off, but she gets the general location of the rest of the team.
She sends out a team-wide signal. "Hey, everyone. Sorry I think I got mind-whammied. Again. Dammit How about sounding off, and can someone confirm that K is good?
"I'm going to buy out the private room at Pizzazz Pizza -- it's a couple blocks east of the park. Let's regroup there, since, ah, stuff."
He hadn't taken off his armor, not because he felt like he was going to need to be called into action again, but because he didn't have anything to change into for the moment. He also didn't really have a way to ask Shaun that wouldn't be broadcast to the rest of the team over the comms. So he'd skulked over to the pizza parlor, staying in the alleyway behind it so not to draw attention, then waited for someone to come out of the back door, slipping in while they lit up a cigarette.
Of course he wasn't the stealthiest person in the word, looming in his armor, but the boots at least muffled his footsteps enough that he was able to slip past into the private room before people registered the six-two soldier in powered armor. He felt like he could relax, and yet there was still a gnawing sensation in his gut.
He didn't know how to broach the subject of how he came to be with Wingblade. Or anyone, really. It had always been that way in the barracks, ever since...since...
He stopped his train of thought, thinking instead of the pizza. He was starving, as he always was after coming back. At least this death had been relatively quick, opposed to plenty of others he remembered.
He remembered dying, but never the exact moment that he died. He wondered if it would be like that for anyone else.
Shaking free of his melancholic thoughts, he pulled off his helmet, shaking his thick locks free and waiting for the rest to arrive. He would have to ask Shayera for another clothing allowance. He couldn't go to school without something he could fit in-
Oh. He couldn't go to school because he wasn't the girl who'd been admitted, but had a new face. That was not what he'd wanted at all.
Mercy finds the back party room empty save for Wingblade, sitting at one of the tables with a huge pile of breadsticks and a variety of dipping options.
She looks really troubled, but she gives him a smile. "Pizza's been ordered. I figured you'll be hungry." She pushes the bread towards him.
She looks at him seriously. "It's not weird. Not really. You're still welcome to stay at my place still. I get it; you kinda told me already, so it's no biggie. Okay?"
"...I'm sorry I died." Mercy is quick to apologize, eyes - still very familiar eyes - cast down to the floor. "I'm sorry that I hurt you, too. I lost control. I wanted to hurt that pig-man, and I lost myself..."
He sits down on one of the private room's plastic covered couches, creaking under his weight and that of his armor. "...I hate dying. When I come back...well, I'm different," He points out, tapping his temple to draw focus to his face. "I think my mind is the same. Except I know I've forgotten something. I just don't know what. It happens every time I die."
He wrings his hands together, just to have something to do with them. "I wasn't very helpful. Shaun said I was mean to the ambassador's little girl. I hurt people in the park. I hurt you. I was awful." He finds his eyes brimming with tears. "I'm a bad hero."
"Of course you're not a bad hero."
Bronwyn did not look great. Her leggings were torn, her hair was matted and starting to stick up all kinds of directions as it finished drying. There was even some wet green goop visible in one of her pockets. She smelled like lake too.
"I'm not saying you couldn't have done better. Every one of us always has to try to be better than we are. This kind of work is too important to coast. But you helped us today Al-
"Umm... Do you still want us to call you Alexis?"
***
Thankfully she'd been 'busy' enough that not checking in on radio hadn't been too weird. And after crawling his way up and back down through the narrow tunnel in the earth with eventually dozens of people on his back, no one had thought it was odd that Bran might not be up to a lot of socializing or media.
Ugh. I'm going to be scrubbing this mail for HOURS.
Shayera grins at Bronwyn's entrance, grateful for her immediate words of encouragement since she was unfortunately coming up with nothing but agreement about Alexis' performance.
She ignores Bronwyn's state of dress, since Shayera was covered in mud and blood with a similar damp pond smell. She goes straight to her and gives her a hug.
"At least you get to come back," Wingblade says after some time in the embrace. "That means you get to try again."
Mercy also had an unusual scent - that being the scent of burned fat and charred meat, though it was subtler compared to what the others were emitting. He looked a bit confused and perplexed at Bronwyn's question though.
"Is there something wrong with my name?" He asked her. "I like it. It's a nice name." He sighs, looking at the floor and letting his eyes trail along the seams in the linoleum. "...I need new clothes. And I need one of the extra phones we got me. Mine's all burned up. I need to remember to leave it somewhere safe when I fight."
He tapped his fingers together, waiting for the girls to finish their hug before speaking again. "I think I made Cassie and Shaun mad today. And Kaoru. Maybe Alexandra too," He adds her in by proxy. "I'm still not good at working with a team. I was...it was unclear. I didn't understand the mission parameters as well as I thought."
Coming home to do research had probably not been Kaoru's brightest idea. Sure, she had her ergonomic, programmable keyboard and her external monitors. But she also had her bed. Her oh-so-inviting bed, neatly made, with a kitty sleeping happily in the corner. She hadn't quite realized how tired and kinda sore she was until she got home. Apparently running for your life was incredibly tiring. So what had turned into a short, 5 minute break to enjoy how incredibly soft Shadow's fur was had quickly turned into more. Especially since while her body was tired, her brain refused to shut up. Which would have been find if it wanted to plan out the different possible ways to go about researching Duncan. Less fine given that it seemed intent upon forcing her to relive her lessons from the night before. Shadow, while adorable, was not providing the mental distraction she needed, so eventually she set her laptop to continue running its video search and gave in.
It had been very different from kissing Jack, even on the few occasions she had let those kisses continue for more than a fraction of a second. Both had been awkward and embarrassing. But Alexandra had seemed almost...what? Shy? Hesitant? Embarrassed? She wasn't sure, but whatever it was, it hadn't been what she had expected from someone who had first asked for kiss, then offered to give kissing lessons, and then actually gone through with that. It was like...the confidence and assertiveness of her words didn't quite match up with her actions. Or maybe she was just being careful? Like someone approaching a wild animal and trying not to make any sudden movements.
Whatever it was, it made her chest feel funny. Like there was a hot air balloon trying to expand and it was just shy of bursting. It was warm and light and almost but not quite too much. Except... Well...she still hadn't felt anything physically. Obviously, there had been some pressure against her lips and some movement but that had been about it. It hadn't been unpleasant but neither was it enjoyable. And that fact made her stomach twist uncomfortably in knots. Because it was supposed to feel good, wasn't it? Wasn't that the point? Or did it only feel good if you went further, and if so, how far did you need to go? At what point could you look at someone and definitively say that you weren't interested in them that way? Or was it supposed to be the opposite and you assumed disinterest until proven otherwise?
But if she were completely disinterested, how did she explain the happy warmth that filled her when she thought about how gentle and sweet and caring Alexandra had been? Was that just friendship? If so, why had she never felt that way about Chloe? There were similarities certainly, but somehow it wasn't quite the same, even if she couldn't exactly put her finger on it. Were those just differences in friendship? Her friendships had all been slightly different, so wouldn't best-friendships similarly have aspects unique to each person? While she didn't particularly mind kissing Alexandra, it still wasn't like that was something she actively wanted to do. The thought of going further still induced a minor anxiety attack. Arguably what she wanted from the other girl was what she wanted from Chloe. Just...keener somehow. Like if she didn't go after it, she risked it slipping out of her grasp.
F#!%, why was she spending so much time thinking about some girl and romance? Isn't that pretty much exactly what had driven her mad about her old friends: how much time they spent obsessing over dating? And wasn't she a guy now? Or...was she? S+@*, that was another complication to this whole mess. She had always--
Kaoru's train of thought was abruptly cut short by Wingblade's voice in her ear, instantly making her jump and earning her a dirty look from the now-awake-and-not-happy-about-it Shadow. Wingblade had gotten mind-whammied? Well, I guess that explains why she's checking in so late after the mission finished. Her eye twitched as their leader mentioned buying out yet another thing. Well, at least you got a heads-up this time. She was pretty sure Duncan's $300 hadn't been enough to cover the limo and movie expenses at it was, and she was in no mood to wrack up even more debt to someone who already had an uncomfortable amount of leverage on her. Besides, she could already hear her mother in the midst of preparing dinner, and she didn't exactly want to haul ass all the way back to the park just for some stupid team meeting. She responded on the all-team frequency.
"K entered a maze of twisty little passages, all alike and got eaten by a grue. As such, K will have to join remotely in 10 minutes."
She then got to work setting up Google hangouts to work anonymously enough for her purposes.
Cassie had heard Wingblade's instructions over the comm, and had accompanied Mercy through the streets towards the pizzeria, feeling an almost uncontrollable urge to get,... something, something nice, and she'd tried to hurry them both along as best she could, slipping her charm back over her neck in case any of her mothers,.. people,.. were still around. At least she was probably safe with Mercy - He might be uncomfortably willing to manhandle her without permission, but he was probably at least an amazing, if a bit unpredictable, fighter who should be able to fight off anyone who wanted to try something.
When they got to the venue and Alexis went to slip in the back way, she'd walked in through the front door and had found the others - Shayera, Bron and Alexis already there. With unseemly speed, she'd rushed forward and grabbed a menu, ignoring the others as she quickly scanned it repeating "Something nice,... something nice,.. something nice." under her breath until she'd seen what she wanted and had quickly ordered a double ice-cream sunday from the flustered-looking waiter. As she waited she couldn't help but pace next to the kitchen door until the waiter had produced her treat a few minutes later and before the pizza arrived. Sitting down with it, she'd grabbed a spoon and started gulping it down. After a few mouthfuls, she seemed to finally be able to focus on the others. Placing her spoon down beside her now-empty bowl.
"I'm going to pay for that later." she said, looking at the debris of her meal sadly. "but wow it was nice... Gods but I hate mind-control s*$+."
Looking up at Alexis' comment she shook her head. "No. You didn't make me mad. It's just,... You shouldn't just grab people without their permission like you did. It's just kind of,... just not a good idea. OK?"
Bronwyn took the hug gratefully, though her hug absolutely didn't include smelling Shayera's hair like normal. Unconsciously her grip on Shayera tightens when she speaks about getting to try again.
"No, Alexis is a good name. I just thought... I don't umm, I don't know how you'll want to... We should probably talk later about the whole... guy-girl thing. If you want.
But umm, yeah. There were definitely some teamwork problems." A flash of anger lit Bronwyn's eyes, but there was no sense in laying into Alexandra while she wasn't here.
"That makes sense about the mission parameters. It's probably a good idea not to start a fight without the rest of the team though when you're not sure. Unless someone's about to be hurt of course." Bronwyn put the tip of her tongue to her upper lip contemplatively, "The people you were with before, did they mostly have the same powers and training as you? 'Cause attacking someone magical when you don't know what they can do is pretty risky. And either Cassie or Bran could've helped you with that. And other people could've helped protect the crowd once the fight started."
***
"K entered a maze of twisty little passages, all alike and got eaten by a grue. As such, K will have to join remotely in 10 minutes."
"Okay, you miiight be the biggest loser I know. I mean who doesn't bring a torch?!"
"K entered a maze of twisty little passages, all alike and got eaten by a grue. As such, K will have to join remotely in 10 minutes.""Okay, you miiight be the biggest loser I know. I mean who doesn't bring a torch?!"
Wingblade's alarm goes up, then immediately crashes back down to Earth. "What does that mean?!?!?"
Bronwyn's eyes twinkle, but she manages not to grin too broadly. "It's a joke sweetie. He's fine."
Wingblade sets up her handheld Abacus device so Kaoru can join them remotely while multiple pizzas are being devoured or picked at as individual preferences dictate.
Wingblade clears her throat and speaks. "Okay, we had a mission... that was compromised in numerous ways, but the central objective was attained -- the rescue of ALL the abductees. So I'm going to call it a win." It was a heroic effort, but she doesn't sound like she's convinced herself.
"We took hits, we dealt with an extremely confusing situation, and I still don't know who those... things were except I have a hunch. Some of you might know, and some of you might not want the others to know. So I guess the question is... are we a team that wants to share secrets? Since I know this was forced on most of us because of that stupid law. But... if you just want to do your thirty days and cut ties, then I don't know how to even talk about everything that happened at the park."
"K entered a maze of twisty little passages, all alike and got eaten by a grue. As such, K will have to join remotely in 10 minutes.""Okay, you miiight be the biggest loser I know. I mean who doesn't bring a torch?!"
Kaoru couldn't help but smirk at Bronwyn's response. She hadn't actually expected anybody to get the joke, so it was a pleasant surprise. Hmm, general pop culture knowledge, or is she actually into video games? I wonder if she'd be interested in borrowing some of mine. Maybe she'd like the Persona series? Kinda railroady, but she might think the whole 'make friends to get a stronger party' mechanic is cool.
*****
Kaoru had finished setting up Google hangouts to bounce her traffic across multiple servers and to run her mic through a voice modulator. Now the question was, who to call? Alexandra was the obvious choice. Except she didn't know what kind of cell plan she had or if this pizza place had free wifi. It'd be incredibly inconsiderate to use up all of her data plan. Which she guess meant she'd be calling Bronwyn. At least she know her cell hack meant she wouldn't be giving the other girl a sky-high phone bill. A moment later, Bronwyn's phone rang. When answered, instead of a camera feed, there was an animated gif of No Face standing in the rain.
While she worked on uploading her video search program to a server so it could run without hogging all her resources, she listened with a muted mic to Wingblade talking. She wasn't really sure what to say; the only question that had been asked seemed largely rhetorical, and the whole talk of 'secrets' made her stomach churn uncomfortably. Was this Wingblade's way of threatening her? And if so, was she saying that if she didn't commit to the team, she'd tell everyone she was a girl? Except it sounded like she was saying that if they were a team, they couldn't have secrets? The latter didn't really make any sense; Wingblade knew she already didn't want to be there, and it seemed pretty obvious that if she wanted people to know she was a girl, she wouldn't be dressing up and acting the way she did. Except that actually she kinda liked the new way she had been dressing (except for the chest binding, which she had to admit was uncomfortable even on the best of days) and hadn't really been doing that much acting other than pitching her voice lower. Even though technically she had never said she was a guy but rather had just let everybody assume she was a guy.
She really didn't want to correct their assumption. Sure, she had been given s+*# about Alexis (though oddly not about Alexandra?), but how much worse would that be if everyone realized she was a girl? Though on the bright side, maybe Alexis would finally give up on her. But then they'd probably just focus on Alexandra, maybe even start giving her a hard time. And then Alexandra would have to distance herself (or Kaoru would have to distance them to protect her) and that was the last thing she wanted.
Maybe if she stayed quiet, other people would talk and she could just slip under the radar and it would all be ok.
Bronwyn gave Wingblade what was, by effort, a minor side-eye at her speech, Umm, not all our secrets, right?
"The important things at least. I think the big thing is... it's important to trust each other. If we're going to keep doing this, we need to get to a place where we feel safe. Like... one of our last team didn't know about me. That I helped Bran and Wingblade I mean. And that made things really complicated sometimes. I'm really glad I feel like I can tell you guys that I help.
"And I know how hard it can be to tell people things you're... you're having trouble even...
"...I trust you guys to tell us what matters."
”Sorry I’m late!” Shaun says as he shuffles past the curtain and slides into the booth. ”Had ta’ dodge a reporter lookin’ f’a victim interview.” He slides a menu his way then fishes out his silver flask. ”So! What’s ta’ topic of ta’ day? How we kicked ass n’ took legs?” He punctuates the last bit by giving Wingblade an exaggerated wink. ”Saw it on ta’ forums, some security footage caught that clean-as-all-hell slice. Nicely done!”
He regards the gif-faced phone for a moment, then glances at Bronwyn. ”...I’m guessin’ Kaoru here, but if it’s Bran on ta’ other end I’m gonna lose it.”
Alexis blinked slowly, trying to figure out what Bronwyn meant by 'guy-girl stuff'. He was saved from asking when she asked about his previous life while Shayera set up so that Kaoru could conference in - why he wasn't here in person he didn't understand. There was food here and friends.
"No. I don't think so. There's blanks in my memory. I know there's seven units. I know some names. But I lose memories when I die. Sometimes recent, sometimes from the past." He pushed up against his knees, looking at Bronwyn straight on. "I know they have different abilities and skills. I know they come in pairs. I can't remember their faces."
When Cassie spoke up, Alexis looked at her with a guilty expression. "It was faster than having you follow. I'm faster than you," He protested. "But I'll ask next time. I'm sorry." She seemed to be at least content, enjoying her sundae there in the private room. He wondered if that was her favorite kind of ice cream.
Later, after having stuffed his face with two pizzas (Bacon Cheeseburger and Veggie Lovers), he was wiping his mouth with a napkin off to the side when Shayera started to address the group. He fidgeted a bit, before speaking up, his voice quiet. "What do you want to know?" He asked the group. Because he could tell them a few things, but there was just a lot that he'd lost over coming back again and again.
Cassie sighed at Shayeara's implied question. "Well. I,... Yeah I know who they,.. the pig people and Ery are." she began. "They work for my mom. That's why the big guy wanted to get at me so badly. He um,.." she shot a look at Shayera and Alexis. "He wanted to take me back to her. I don't know why they were at the park or what they were after though."
Shaun's joke about Ery's dismemberment wasn't particularly funny, so she wasn't as amused when he was actually being clever. "No, that's Kaoru. Bran needed some time off more than he needed pizza. I'll catch him up later."
Bronwyn swallowed a bite and gave a quick smile, gesturing with the rest of the slice as she spoke, "Alexis, the big thing we need to know is if you spot anything that means trouble, and that if there's something you need to tell us, you will. And you're already doing that, right?"
Bronwyn set down her current slice next to the small pile of blotting-napkins that she'd been using for the excess greaseas she thought through what Cassie had said.
"Okay. Well, we know that Ery and his herd weren't just there for you. It seemed like they were trying to take Encantado, right? I mean that's why they had their mole in the SCA. Which figures, by the way."
There was a tightness in the back of her head, only growing as she continued. Bronwyn didn't get migraines, but Mary-Beth had told her about the way that sometimes she could feel them building before they actually struck. "Cassie, do you know of anything your mother-Ceridwen -might be planning that would require such a captive? Whether as an assistant or as sacrifice?"
Cassie nodded. "No. They weren't after me. He seemed surprised that I was there." she looked over at Shaun, and at Bron's phone she didn't really trust either of them to be able to keep secrets just yet, even if they had helped out at the park and their hearts seemed (mostly) to be in the right place, but there wasn't really an option now. Bron'd said enough already.
"I don't know what she could be planning. She's in prison already, so I don't know what she could have to do with it really, although I can't see that just locking her up would stop her. I don't know anything really about what she could be planning... I don't know much about what she does. Not really."