"No...no. That was mostly me trying to let you in on...what I assume you already know," He says, glancing at his mentor. "This is fine. It's super weird seeing people with fake versions of my visor in the crowd, but still fine."
He hesitates for a moment. "Still, it's your day, so go have fun with your fans. I need to talk with Whippoorwill anyways. Glad to see Conway's doing well." He smiles, letting her go off, before moving to sidebar with his mentor.
"I think that I'm going to be quitting the team. Not right now, but soon. Stepping down from active to reserve duty, if that makes sense?" He tells her, heart hammering in his chest. "It's...I've been thinking this for a while. If I stay - and I want to stay, not get flung back into the past where I'm doomed to become a villain - I can't be a full-time hero like you, sensei."
He feels sick. Is he sick? How much does she hate him right now? "I want to be a lawyer. I want to be able to represent the interests of people like me, like Hoshiko and Valerie who need the opportunities they feel are closed off to them. I need to work to make the world a better place that doesn't involve super powers or body-altering injuries. At the rate I keep missing classes and failing tests, law school is a dream unless I make changes. And I'm sorry, I'm really sorry to disappoint you like this. I was going to wait to tell you until I at least resolved everything with all of my missing time from the Sentinels blowing up, but I've hit a wall and think I should just give up on that and move on."
He stops talking, feeling like he's broken out into a cold sweat, staring at Whippoorwill's feet and unable to make eye contact with her.
Femtite doesn’t mind that Shin apparently knew. And maybe he was conflicted about withholding the information… but what better way to blow a secret than to talk about it at all? She addresses his intent—“I appreciate you having my back, Shin.”—through a tangential context: “Especially at the DA’s office, earlier.”
She gives him a warm and sincere smile.
“Well, I’ll leave you two to chat!” And the last Shin and Whip see of Femtite is a giddy expression before she shrinks away—
One moment, there’s a spark above the crowd. In the next, a ‘fairy princess.’ She looks at the various Femtite cosplayers, curious to know whether the girls prefer her little plaid skirt with the knee socks and sweater vest, or her billowing princess gown. She grows to full size in the presence of a cosplayer with the skirt-vest ensemble, magical-girling on the same outfit. “Wow! You look amazing!“ She changes to a gown and curtsies to a cosplayer dressed with a pixite-princess look. And if anyone dresses as a winged version of herself, she flits by at fairy size!
She eventually finds Conway, and stays in whatever outfit she happens to be in and is human-sized as she says, “This is so amazing. All the Me’s are so adorable! Do you think they’d want to be in a group photo with me? I have a camera that can float around and do the photo shoot, but… you’re the expert at organizing stuff. Thoughts?”
A massive hush of awed silence passes through the crowd when Femtite appears in their midst. But her immediate acceptance and celebration of their costumes spark glee amongst them, and they are thrilled and flattered by her compliments. Soon everyone lines up so the Pixite princess can look over their various efforts, some being clearly homemade slapdash affairs to nearly professional recreations of some of Femtite's looks.
When she finds Conway, all he does is point behind her at the crowd in answer to her question. "Look at them. They'd love it!" He waits patiently for the quick photo shoot.
When she returns to him, he has a tablet in his hand. "Um, if you don't have time, that's totally understandable. You've got places to be, I'm sure. But, well, if you can, or want to, I think I might be on to something. I think there's like, a market? For dolls of you. And other merch. I had a few ideas, but I'd never do anything, or try to make a profit, without your permission." His cheeks burn red and he shifts on his feet self-consciously.
Whippoorwill looks shocked and takes a moment to process. But she puts a hand on his shoulder and looks him in the eyes. "Shin, I'm not -- nor will I ever -- be disappointed in you for something like this. I've known you've been putting an unhealthy amount of pressure on yourself and I've tried--" She stops herself with a shake of her head.
"I'm proud of you. You don't have to do this job full-time in order to have my approval." She steps back and looks over the city as the wind sets her hair blowing wildly. "There's always the mission. The dangers out there. But... I understand if you don't think you can do it forever. Even I... won't be doing it forever."
She falls silent for a moment, then turns back to Horizon. "I'm proud that you're still thinking of helping others. I know the legal system is frustrating. For all the good we do, it should be on our side more."
She offers him a sympathetic smile. "Sorry to hear about the brick wall. I take it Siphon's memories weren't any better than yours?"
Femtite happily joins the girls for the group photo. She doesn’t concern herself with whose costumes look better than whose, and simply asks Bug-Eye to take shots at multiple angles, so nobody is left out. Femtite flies to a new space with each shot so she’s not always next to the same gaggle of Femtites.
She then has Bug-Eye create a holo-display so the girls can see how the various shots came out. Each holographic image has the pixotech equivalent of a QR code embedded. “Scan any image, you get them all! And if you speak your name to Bug-Eye, she’ll label your images in ultraviolet so I can put a name to the face, if you want me to! Thank you so much, ladies!”
When Conway asks Femtite permission he gets an immediate “Yes!” followed very closely by a “You’re brilliant, Conway!
“I always hoped your interest would lead to a bright future. I didn’t think of the possibility that I would somehow be a part of it.” She notes his self-consciousness. “Hey, if there are people you need to talk to, and it’ll help if I’m there… let me know where you need me, when you need me. I think together we can really make this happen!”
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He feels light all of a sudden, and not because he's hovering. He feels his knees hitting the rooftop, clutching onto his mentor's forearms.
"I...thought you were going to fight me on this." He says in disbelief. Why did he think that? "My father...he wanted me to succeed. And success for him meant being a doctor. Even though I didn't have an interest in medicine. I could never have told him that. Not when he and my mother gave up so much coming here."
His face screws up as he holds back tears. "It's foolish. I thought the same about you. When you've sacrificed so much to be a hero. How could I reject that same path when you've given me so much?"
He trembles, taking a few moments to try and compose himself under the weight...or rather, the lack of weight on himself. It felt like something had been lifted off of him. Not everything, but enough that he felt he could breathe again.
"I'm so relieved. Happy, even. Though, yeah...Valerie - and can we just call her Valerie? She's not her alias. It feels like when people call me Dusk." He shakes it off after voicing his opinion. "But yeah, Valerie told me a lot of things. An argument that started to spring up with everyone. Praetoria had come back to the base, which I hadn't known. Things were boiling over, and everyone was arguing. I was arguing with Isaiah of all people, which just seems weird. Something about being upset with him giving Valerie some of his fuel. And her memory's spotty as well. She knows she got Kylie's power at some point. Broke her heart to look into Rory's mind. Then things get more confusing. By the time she remembers things clearly, the base was totaled, she had several sets of powers, and was scared that she was going to get thrown into jail so she bolted."
He frowns, as he's still got this sense of missing something. "It doesn't add up. I think I'm too close I can't see the big picture. Is it worth still figuring this out?"
Whippoorwill helps her protégé back to his feet. "Shin, I have a lot to atone for. I don't see my attempts to be a hero as a sacrifice, but necessary. I'm fighting for a redemption I know I'll never earn. I admit that colored how I've trained and pushed you, because I saw you and Dusk as the same person.
"I was wrong, and I'm so sorry for that." She removes her domino mask as she looks at him. "You don't have anything to atone for. Dusk's actions are not yours. You're innocent."
The sincerity and regret is plain on her face. "I trust you, and whatever path you've chosen for yourself. I'm sorry I didn't see it earlier."
Shifting topics back to the mystery of the Sentinels' breakup, Whippoorwill restores her domino mask and considers his question. "Absolutely it's worth it. Siph-- Valerie has been found, but Psyche is still missing, for one thing. And if everyone was acting off... that's too much of a mystery to leave unsolved." She pauses to consider. "Did you record S-- Valerie's statements? It might be good to listen to them again, even if she won't cooperate further. Or if she's willing, you could drill down, look for things she specifically can remember. There might still be a clue in your memories, muddy as they are."
"I screwed everything up, though. The last fight with the Sentinels, I don't remember a lot of it, but everyone was so angry, and yelling, screaming at each other. I wish I could remember what started it. But, it had to be me. Praetoria was there, with Rory, and I got so jealous all of a sudden."
"Psyche was yelling at us, something about everyone facing heartbreak, but no one would listen. She was just throwing gas onto the fire. You and Isaiah were at it, Triplight threatening to leave, and then... it was like everything exploded. We were all fighting, just going crazy. I got ahold of Psyche's powers at some point. And I... I couldn't stop myself. I had to know.
"I looked in Rory's mind and saw he didn't love me like I thought he did."
"I never should have looked. But everything became a haze after that. I don't know what I did, but... I can imagine."
"When I woke up, I had yours and Kylie's powers, and Praetoria's powers again. I couldn't remember much, but I knew it had all gone to shit. I took off, as far as those powers would take me. I don't think it was your powers that made me lose control. It was everything else."
"I don't know, all right? Maybe... about him spying on us or something? Unless it was about that mana juice he was always pushing on me. I still had several vials still on me when I was picked up. It was what gave Dr. Sang his big breakthrough. But you had no way of knowing, so probably not that. I wasn't... really in the mood to get all the nuances of everyone's motives, you know."
"...still a lot of questions," Shin says. Focusing on this at least helps him not feel shaken by his mentor's admission of seeing him and Dusk as still the same person. "What was I arguing with Isaiah about? And why was Praetoria there after she'd very much quit the team?"
Why didn't he remember her being there? But Valerie knew she'd gotten her powers, so she had to have been there - wait -
"Isaiah often sampled from Praetoria when he was making his fuel. If Valerie had some vials containing Prae's power, it's not unfeasible that she'd been able to gain access to them that way. I assumed that because she'd gotten her power-up after the blow-up by draining us. But if that wasn't the case..."
There's a sense of horror that spills over his face. "Was the person who came there with Rory not really Praetoria then?"
Connie loudly steps inside the door to the roof before opening it, a little bit slowly. "Hey, can I cut in? But don't quill me bro. I was hoping to grab you two for something, but the whole 'look of horror' thing makes me feel like I should maybe check in on that?"
Whippoorwill's face is tight when Conflux appears on the roof. It's clear something she heard in the recording has her deeply concerned. She barely acknowledges the newcomer as she starts inputting information into her gauntlet's computer.
"Could you play it again?" Whippoorwill asks, focusing on the readouts of her computer.
Shin nods and replays the conversation one more time, this time with Conflux there somewhat inexplicably (though if she was here she had something she wanted).
"I screwed everything up, though. The last fight with the Sentinels, I don't remember a lot of it, but everyone was so angry, and yelling, screaming at each other. I wish I could remember what started it. But, it had to be me. Praetoria was there, with Rory, and I got so jealous all of a sudden."
"Psyche was yelling at us, something about everyone facing heartbreak, but no one would listen. She was just throwing gas onto the fire. You and Isaiah were at it, Triplight threatening to leave, and then... it was like everything exploded. We were all fighting, just going crazy. I got ahold of Psyche's powers at some point. And I... I couldn't stop myself. I had to know.
"I looked in Rory's mind and saw he didn't love me like I thought he did."
"I never should have looked. But everything became a haze after that. I don't know what I did, but... I can imagine."
"When I woke up, I had yours and Kylie's powers, and Praetoria's powers again. I couldn't remember much, but I knew it had all gone to shit. I took off, as far as those powers would take me. I don't think it was your powers that made me lose control. It was everything else."
"I don't know, all right? Maybe... about him spying on us or something? Unless it was about that mana juice he was always pushing on me. I still had several vials still on me when I was picked up. It was what gave Dr. Sang his big breakthrough. But you had no way of knowing, so probably not that. I wasn't... really in the mood to get all the nuances of everyone's motives, you know."
Shin finishes the playback, letting his mentor crunch the data. He's got a spark of hope she's got an idea here.
He looks at Connie. "Oh, you know, just a post planet moving conversation where I try and figure out what went wrong with the Sentinels. Just something that's been eating at me for months. Nothing too horrible." He jokes, his humor as dry as his mouth currently.
Connie shakes off Shin's sardonic greeting and focuses. "Psyche said you were facing heartbreak?"
"That was weird to me too. Especially since Kylie doesn't yell, but that might have just been how Valerie remembers her thoughts in her head." Shin says, furrowing his brow. "I don't know how relevant that detail is to what happened though. There's something off about Praetoria being there after all. She had quit the team because of Rory bringing in Valerie, only to come back with him - that doesn't add up. Plus I don't understand why I would have been arguing with Isaiah in the first place. Triplight...no idea. Maybe they'd had enough and left just like they had said they would."
Connie scrunches her nose "Seems a little brainfoggy. I agree that simple heartbreak wouldn't make everyone self destruct like that, but Heartache very easily could, no?" She studies Shin closely, more interested in his response than her theory.
"I questioned Valerie about the wording too. She couldn't confirm it," Shin admits. "If that was the only strange factor here then I could rationalize that Kylie had something to do with this. It still doesn't add up. It can't just be teen drama that caused this."
"Okay inconclusive ,Framebreak time. "
Shin opens and closes his mouth. He looks a little stunned. Puzzle pieces were now sliding in place.
"Everyone was facing heartbreak."
"...It was a warning. She was the only one who realized and was trying to warn us all. How did I miss that?"
He stands up, feeling angry. Mad at himself for not seeing it, a little mad that Conflux made that connection, and furious at Heartache. But how had they even gotten into the base?
The temperature drops around ten degrees as he pulls heat and light from his surroundings, fists balled up and a look of absolute disgust on his face. "That still doesn't answer why though. I have to know."
Whippoorwill mutters to herself, not reacting to Conflux's revelation. "Doesn't make sense. Sentinels weren't on the Instigators' radar."
She taps her ear. "Whet, need you to cross-reference every possible sighting of the Instigators from three months ago. Rumors, traffic cameras, cell phones, everything. I need to know where they were when the Sentinels imploded."
"Hey." Connie takes his shoulders in a warded grip. "You were operating with at least one major handicap on this, and no one else with this information put it together either, not even Big Bird. There's even a chance that- oh actually, Ms. Orwill? Shin came up with the idea for us to have the codeword 'gizmo' to use when things secretly aren't okay. Actually he said we should use it when things secretly are okay, but I, uh, revised that plan. It has still never worked. Anyways, do you or your team have a codeword like that for when you need to warn of mental influence?"
Something pops on Connie's person as she grabs his person - one ward protecting her from having her body heat sucked from her. It's frigid around Shin right now as he pulls her hands away and steps back.
"...if Heartache is at fault. She has to know." He states, rage in his heart as he links back with Clocktower remotely.
"Emotional manipulation, creating strong feelings of jealousy. I wonder if she could conceal emotions from psychics as well. Do you think she was laughing as we started to throw blows?" He asks Conflux. She would probably notice that his eyes were getting darker. "Maybe concealing herself in the room. I assume she had to be there. You think she had fun watching me attack my friends and destroy our team? She probably had some help getting inside at least, which means that she probably had support from someone else pulling her strings. And who else would have had a vendetta against the Sentinels who had recently escaped then?"
He knew he'd find the connection. Shard and the Instigators seemed like they wouldn't rub each other the wrong way after all.
Whippoorwill's voice comes out stern. "Horizon, stop. Heartache fits, but we don't know for certain. We're going to do this methodically, and more importantly, smartly. We're going to find her, but the more emotion you're feeling, the stronger she'll be. So stay frosty. Got it?"
"There was a 'she' in there whose antecedent I'm uncertain of, but not sure that's actually our immediate concern. You're spiraling right now my dude, overclocking, and that oversized grain of guilt and anger is gonna f!@$ up your gears. You've gotta calm it down or you're going to be completely useless as anything other than a murder-AC unit. Is that what you think the team needs?" Connie steps back in closer, one of her charms beginning to bubble with the head needed to feed his void. "That's never been the best you have to offer, and it's not what she needs from you now. She needs you alert, head on a swivel, and planning. There's no one you can just blast the face off of yet. Well actually..." She steps back again and looks at Whippoorwill. "Do you have a mental-compromise codeword like I asked? Seems useful against anyone who doesn't have your mind like, totally compromised and might otherwise need a hint to go rummaging around"
Shin looks close to snapping back at his mentor, but bites his tongue and reins in his power to stop bleeding energy from his surroundings. "Of...of course, sensei."
He looks at Connie apologetically. But there's a simmering anger still behind his eyes. The tension has not yet left him, as he is anxious to act immediately.
"She destroyed the Sentinels. She has to pay for that. I...need a moment," He says, excusing himself to pace to a different corner of the roof.
Whippoorwill steps back to give Horizon space. She uses that time to address Conflux's question. "Codeword? No. Too easily compromised if our minds were invaded. Countermeasures are in place, however. The Alliance is also fortunate to have a pair of members with nonhuman minds."
She glances back at Shin. "It shouldn't matter, anyway. Heartache manipulates emotions, not thoughts. It's hard dealing with her, even harder when one or more of your teammates have... history. You can go into an altercation knowing she's going to mess with you, and you still can go off the rails. Don't assume she can't affect you. In fact, given what I know about First Class's past... I hate to use the word 'drama.' Pretend I said something with better tact... Heartache could very well cause a repeat of what happened to the Sentinels, even with warning."
Conway's cheeks burn under the praise, but his self-consciousness starts to lift as Femtite shows enthusiasm for possible business ventures. He opens a laptop and shows her several open tabs.
"Um. Well, you might be aware, your livestream from your home meteorite spread across the net. It sparked a lot of interest. Not just, like, for costumes and cosplay, but for actual Nanometeor stuff."
He shows a short animated video of some Pixites dancing. "PixIL made this. They're working on a longer one based on some stuff you shared back at Hal Prep. If you like something like this, we could make more about life of the Pixites on your home," he suggests.
Femtite giggles at the dancing pixites—WAY too caught up in the moment to determine whether it’s cute or condescending.
When Conway mentions PixIL’s project, she needs a moment. “There’s… there’s so much to tell. I don’t know what details would be interesting. I don’t know what might be… too much.” She watches the pixites dance, and it dawns on her… whoever made this is curious. Someone took the time to create models of a being they had never seen prior to that video, and animated them. Not just the time, but the effort to make the models look like actual pixites.
“You said PixIL. And you also said ‘we.’ Even as a princess, I do not use The Royal We. So do you mean, you-and-me-we… or did you find work at PixIL?” Not wanting the boy to feel self-conscious again, she assures him, “Either way, I am interested.”
She hasn’t even asked about the money. Publicity is the mission. She would do it for free, but that would be a very dumb thing to admit aloud.
Conway shakes his head vigorously. "PixIL is a handle. Just another fan, who has a passion for animation. I've organized a bunch of fans who have put together their talents to do some cool things." He opens another tab which shows pictures of headbands with Pixite-like antennae.
"These are popular. Right now, PixieTrixie is selling them for cost. But we could probably get with an actual toy company and make a licensed run of these and other items, like wings."
He cycles through a few other homemade crafts and cosplay item pictures. "So, you like it, then?"
Caio raises his hand. "I'd like to make two points... first, we know for sure that Indarius' transformation was caused, if not very hastened, by the event in question. We still have his photos from before the transformation to show the jury and having him turned 'monstrous'..." He says, making air quotes and looking at Percy just to make sure he understood his choice of words were just to give shock and not reflect his views. "... should be an aggravating, no? He was not only kidnapped but transformed, and if he had plans to retire in the future, these plans will be incredibly harder now."
[b]"My second point is the Mathers' usage of a demon lord and hellhounds... these are not mere weapons, but forces of unrestricted evil. If you'd like, I'm sure the Corps would be happy to testify on the severity of the usage of these forces, as no one simply unleashes them unless the have death and chaos in mind." He explains. "It might also add some pressure from the church against Mathers."
Shin was seeing the point here. Kidnapping was provable, while anything else relating to violence was chalked up to simply superpowers slugging it out like kids in a schoolyard. So long as neither party attempted to grievously wound or murder the other with clear intent. It also insulated the Alliance and other hero teams from being sued for similar points. He could understand a little bit about how the law came to that.
"No matter how you spin it, a jury's going to look at Indarius like a full-fledged adult. You should all be prepared for the worst case scenario of him walking away," Shin says in warning. "Which will suck, but I understand there's not much else to do. We have to argue that Indarius was truly helpless and held against his will, and hope that the jury can see behind the scales. Bringing up the use of demons is a double-edged sword, seeing as some of our closest allies - like Diva - are demonic forces themselves. I think that's a road we don't want to walk down."
Hendricks points to Shin. "He gets it. Do I want to nail Mathers to the wall? Absolutely. But I've seen a few supervillains throwing out the 'powers for all' schtick, and it lands more times than not. It's infuriating. So we have to focus on what he did to actual people."
Femtite is even more impressed to know the animation isn’t from a studio, but a person. A fan!
“I love this, Conway. These people… PixIL, PixieTrixie, all those cosplayers dressing as me and my teammates? I’m completely blown away.” She looks back at the fans. “I should… I should say something. Are PixIL and PixieTrixie here?”
When Conway replies, Femtite is yet again awestruck.
She uses her powers to emit a sunburst of rainbow colors to draw attention to herself. She has Bug-Eye record.
“I didn’t have a speech prepared or anything. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure this whole planet-moving thing would really work out as I planned it. In fact, it didn’t go as planned.
“The moment I saw my dear friend Conway, the day already became so much better than I’d imagined! And so I just want to thank Conway, the club president for…” She gestures around her, the venue, the crowd! “…this! And some of the amazing work he’s shown me from a couple fans.
“PixIL, I know it’s night in South Korea, and I’m not live-streaming this anyway, but when you hopefully view this recording, just know I love your work. I need to check in with the queens after the convention, so I’ll send out a video from my planet later—hopefully by sunrise in your part of the Earth.
“And PixieTrixie, I’m impressed by your artistic talent as well. If you happen to be here, there’s something I’d like to show you…”
Femtite knows PixieTrixie is here, but doesn’t want to pressure someone with a pseudonym to show her face. (Or his, or theirs?) She will wait a few seconds for a response before giving PixieTrixie an out.
Femtite asks, “Is there a possible charge for some sort of parental abuse? I understand Mr. Mathers adopted Connie, and likely her brothers, for their abilities. Not for love.
“My race was once enslaved by another, so maybe I my thinking is influenced by my own world’s history, and not relevant to the Mathers’ situation.” She looks at Connie, not entirely certain she will take this well. But there’s a reason she doesn’t trust adults. “But from my understanding of what slavery is, Mr. Mathers collected seven children to one day carry out this plan. For their whole lives, they were raised to serve a purpose. He sought them and raised them to be his tools.
“Connie, obviously, has too strong a mind to be controlled. Her brother who attacked me seemed… conflicted. I think he was stuck between trying to do the right thing, and also do right by his father.”
Femtīte does not know the rules of Earth. She is pretty sure she is flaunting her ignorance right now. “Forgive me, Mr. Hendricks, if none of what I said is useful. It just seems wrong, and not in a way that being superpowered or magic matters.”
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Indarius nods along with everything being said so far, he even seems about ready to say his own piece up until Mr. Hendricks says "We have to focus on what he did to 'actual' people." The room drops another two degrees as Indarius goes very silent.
He didn't mean it like that...he didn't
"Um.. right we have to focus on what's-" He shuffled his paws a bit and his tail knocked against a bookshelf in the room causing it to knock and rock. Indy looks over, then down, "Um what's actually provable. Right."
He folds his forelegs over one another and co tinies to shift and shuffle a bit. "I'm sorry, but I may have to excuse myself for the bathroom. If... if I think of anything else then I'll be in touch Mr. Hendricks, but i'm not sire i've got anything else to add at the moment."
Without waiting for a real acceptance of his exclusion he shrinks down to pseudo-size and flows out of the room.
Femtite rises. “Oh… please excuse me as well, Mr. Hendricks. I should go with him. Not to the bathroom, but.” She turns to the team. “I’ve got this.” I think.
Femtite becomes a spark, and zips out the door!
• • •
Femtite becomes Barbie-sized when she catches up.
“Percy? I know you said you need a moment alone… and if seeing me out here does not change this, I will respect your choice. But if you want my opinion, I think it’s better to talk to someone. And… we could maybe fly somewhere, and I could listen—like you’ve done for me so many times. And, I think I understand what you are going through, and how that comment from the DA felt.”
She hoped her question to the DA would have shifted the focus, but being Different herself, she knew how ‘actual people’ sounded whether it was meant that way or not. (The or-not being a response to the false accusations of murder and world-destruction.)
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Indarius finds himself pacing outside to get a breath and some space only to be greeted with stares, pointing, and gasps. He tries to keep his head low and head to anywhere that didn't havr more people.
It's okay they aren't staring it's just new to them at least they aren't running and- 'Femtite'
"HEY-hey.. just needed um.. air, and space. Everything is just so..." He huffs and sits, curling his tail around his legs and keeps his wings around him like a little coat. "It's either too small or too big, and I don't want to be uncomfortable, but the sidewalk is too hard and just-" In an attempt to not look threatening to the people around them he refrains from growling too liudly from his frustration.
"It isn't comfortable anymore to just... be." It seems he doesn't want to touch the DA conversation in public.
“First, let’s get away from this crowd.”
Femtite points out a pair of buildings.
“May I suggest a rooftop? I’ll be on the next roof, in case after a minute or an hour alone, you’ll want to talk.”
Femtite becomes a spark, flits up to the roof, and true to her word—if Percy turns to check on her, she is fairy-sized and hovering above the roof, one leg crossed over the other. Her winged back is toward Percy. She’s giving him space, as promised, and seems to be looking out at the view…
Though she is also looking at an ultraviolet holographic display, as she telepathically writes a text via Bug-Eye.
☀️: I believe I understand what Indy is feeling right now. Please be patient. This is not his first reminder of being Different. It won’t be the last.
☀️: There will never be a last.
☀️: I do not expect we will return to the meeting, but that doesn’t mean we don’t value what Mr. Hendricks is doing. I understand we CAN’T fly off when court is in session, and I trust Indarius knows this too.
☀️: Please trust me to work with him.
Femtite asks, “Is there a possible charge for some sort of parental abuse? I understand Mr. Mathers adopted Connie, and likely her brothers, for their abilities. Not for love.“My race was once enslaved by another, so maybe I my thinking is influenced by my own world’s history, and not relevant to the Mathers’ situation.” She looks at Connie, not entirely certain she will take this well. But there’s a reason she doesn’t trust adults. “But from my understanding of what slavery is, Mr. Mathers collected seven children to one day carry out this plan. For their whole lives, they were raised to serve a purpose. He sought them and raised them to be his tools.
“Connie, obviously, has too strong a mind to be controlled. Her brother who attacked me seemed… conflicted. I think he was stuck between trying to do the right thing, and also do right by his father.”
Femtīte does not know the rules of Earth. She is pretty sure she is flaunting her ignorance right now. “Forgive me, Mr. Hendricks, if none of what I said is useful. It just seems wrong, and not in a way that being superpowered or magic matters.”
"That's inaccurate and dangerously misleading. If it weren't, it also doesn't meet any kind of standards of abuse."
"This is also not a trial about his treatment of his children. It's a criminal trial about his actions on the day in question," Shin points out to Femtite before she leaves. "We have to try and make the judge and jury of the case see that his actions broke the law as written. Which in this case is proving the kidnapping."
He watches Percy and Femtite leave, checking his messages as she sends them to him.
Shin: He's going to be all right.
Shin: We just have to show the trial the guy we know.
"...Anything else we need to cover?" He asks Hendricks. "I would like have a conversation about something else with you if you have a minute."
Shin broods at the corner of the roof. Wanting to act. Unwilling to disobey Whippoorwill's orders. Hoping that they can find her.
"...where are you, Kylie?" He whispers to the wind. He looks out at the city. A couple of heroes flying or traveling by rooftop. Someone in a black cowl he didn't recognize far off leaping fairly far. He wondered if any of them would have better luck than him on this quest.
After a few more moments to gather himself, he returns to Connie and his mentor, a little calmer, though exceedingly anxious. "Okay...if Heartache is involved, I think that it's dangerous to bring the whole team with us. But also bad to go in alone against her. A trusted pair together with no unresolved baggage would be best. Though if she's with the rest of the Instigators, then the team would be needed to hold them down."
"I don't buy that. You're thinking of the codeword as having to protect you from all forms of mental attack, but that's stupid. There are loads of psychics or similar people who do their work without being able to actually read minds, let alone catalog and get through all of it. Like... yes, if Psyche or Gothic or someone like that is all up in your brainmeats, then yes, if they think to look, or they have a good bit of time, then they'll find it. But if you just have a bunch of compulsions or blindspots laid on you that have left some wiggle room, then me being able to say 'Aardvark, December 2nd. Definitely Horizon, probably you,' starts to come in handy. Let alone if you're up against someone with Imagerie's skillset where needing to discretely know not to trust your senses has nothing to do with mind reading."
Whippoorwill pinches her brow as Conflux talks to her. "You apparently have a very specific scenario in mind. Care to enlighten me? And I look forward to your extensive dissertation on everything we're doing wrong. Just keep it succinct." She forces a smile. "All right?"
Horizon's arrival delays any retort from Conflux. Whippoorwill turns her attention to him. "No, only two people will be overwhelmed by the rest of the Instigators. Propane, Asphalt and Stormfront are also tough. Unless you can isolate her, you're dealing with four, not one."
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On the rooftop across from Femtite, if she were to look over she would see him, maybe over the lip of the rooftop, pacing in an uneasy circle. Though from this distance it would be next to impossible to tell what he was doing or saying without super hearing.
"Isn't comfortable to be.. what the f!#$ was that supposed to mean? Yeah you knew that being a dragon wasn't gonna be comfy, but it's who you are dumbass. People are gonna stare and ooh and aahh and coo sometimes, especially when you're... tiny." He sighs and lifted his wings to look at himself his mother was totally correct on that whole front.
"Things just aren't made for my body type, that's something I have to get used to right? Other people aren't gonna see me as.. a person just because I say I am." He continues to pace kicking the rocks used to coat the top of the structure in his frustrated strut. "Stupid guy saying stuff like that. I'm not some kind of mindless monster, or crazy villain." He stares down at his sharp claws as one of the rocks pings off the lip of the roof splitting into pieces and putting a crack in the roof-blocks. "Right?"
After a few tense seconds of staring at his own clawed hand-paw Indy snaps out of it and goes to the lip that leads over to the building that Femtite was floating above, placing his forepaws on it he gazed over the lip at her. "Shouldn't have rushed out, I don't even know what to say to her... I mean what, hey I feel fine, probably won't cut it this time."
He frowned and looked at the ground, then hopped up with a frustrated huff before leaping, diving down some distance before spreading his wings, catching the air and glide swooping back up to Femtite's building.
A subtle scratch of talons on stonework alerted Femtite of Indy's presence, "Hey. Um.. yeah I.. I don't know what to say, things are f!~#ed really and I don't know how to process it yet."
"So I just bring the whole team there, where she can get her hooks on us and break everything again?" Shin asks, frustrated. "Divide and conquer. We keep her separate and apart from the others. Maybe push her through one of Indarius' portals somewhere else in Halcyon. Might do him good to work on a problem instead of feeling put on display..."
He tries to settle himself more. "You're right about one thing, sensei. This requires more planning than we can do right now. I'll go and see if Clocktower can assist with locating the Instigators. Might have some archival leads. Conflux," He turns to Connie. "Do you want a lift back down or do you still need to talk to Whippoorwill?"
Femtite turns to Percy, and her answer to ‘things are f$!%ed’ is, “Things are normal, Percy. I’m saying this as your friend. You’re like me, now, and DD. Different. I’m sure the DA’s words weren’t the first insensitive comment to remind you how Not Like The Others you are. It won’t be the last.
“You aren’t going to process this in one afternoon, but you don’t have to face this alone.” Femtite stops fluttering her fairy wings. They stop, but she remains in an effortless hover, her tiny form eye-level with Percy’s head. “Please don’t go it alone. I did, when I could have talked to DD about it. I should’ve. But, I’m in a good place now, and I think I can help you.
“I want to try…”
“…if you want to. I mean, you can tell me what went through your mind when the DA said that. Did you ask yourself something like ‘did he mean it that way?’ or ‘am I being too sensitive?’ Did you want to just disappear because you weren’t sure anyone else in the room could grasp how humiliating and upsetting and unnecessary the word ‘actual’ was?!”
Femtite’s aura is fire-engine-red now, and her temperature has notably risen.
“Umm… for example. Sorry.” Her aura very gradually cools its way toward egg-yoke-gold. “Why don’t you tell me how you felt? And from there, feel free to just vent or ask me stuff.”
"Instigators will definitely be important to follow up on once we have a lead, and maybe once we've had time to prep for them like, at all, but since you were curious Ms. Orwill, the specific scenario I have in mind is: Aardvark, December 2nd. Definitely Horizon, extra-probably you."
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Percy furrows his brow as he listens expecting Femtite to just go on a tangent about being a princess or something, but then she actually offers some good points and seems to be quite genuine in her want to actually try and help him. So he relaxes and sits again.
"Well.. for starters, you and Dee both have naturally humanoid shapes. I don't unless I'm using magic to change it. That's just... hiding in a different way when I do that though. So the world is literally not built for my body plan."
He clears his throat, "Like I said before everything is too small or too big, so just existing in such oddly sized spaces is hard without causing an accident. And yeah It did sort of feel like he was talking like I wasn't even.. a person anymore. Like I've been a human or at least living as one for nineteen years I've been a full dragon for what a month and a half? What the hell kind of implication is it to say 'Actual people'." Percy gives a disgruntled snorty growl and Femtite might imagine if he were a fire breathing dragon it would have been accompanied by a plume of smoke.
"My biggest concern about this has always been, how will other people react and aside from the very shaky moment with my parents, which probably only went so well thanks to Connie and my I dunno, entire life having been with them. This guy sort of just made it feel so real immediately, not only for me, but for Dee too. I mean she's not here, but you know. Aside from that the only reason I'm stuck from looking human is because I stopped an ACTUAL Monster from coming and leveling Halcyon."
Mr. Hendricks looks shocked as Indarius exits the room so abruptly. When Femtite follows, he sighs. "All right. We can end it here. I'll be in touch so we can drill down on your testimony if it comes to that. There's a chance he'll still accept a plea deal."
He stands and waits by the door as the remaining team also exits. When Horizon asks to stick around with some additional questions, Hendricks waits for the room to empty and then looks to him. "Yes? What've you got?"
Whippoorwill stops and looks at Conflux hard. She gestures for her to wait, then turns to Horizon. "The Instigators are good at going to ground. There's a lot of places for them to hide in Halcyon. But we'll find them. If you find them first, don't make a move without letting me know. Got it?"
She turns back to Conflux when Horizon steps away. "Okay. That was when you found Eternia and dealt with the CHC. Horizon reported that the Archdeacon was defeated, along with the other psychic entities.Are you saying that he was wrong? Is he compromised?"
The fans demonstrate their various talents, hoping for approval by the Pixite princess. Some are creative, some are less so.
When the impromptu convention winds down, Conway has several projects that he feels he can take to various companies for backing to create a Femtite line of products (he plans on handling any doll lines personally).
"I know you're a prosecutor, but you probably know better than me which defense attorneys are good people and lawyers, and which ones you think stink. I'd like a recommendation. If that's not too much trouble."
His face darkens a bit. "Definitely no one who's ever worked with the Duskguard."
In the meantime, he checked on Clocktower remotely to see if the search was coming up with any leads or links from the Instigators to other parties in Halcyon. Especially Shard or Dusk.
Connie's mouth thins as her antennae twitch. "Well... Before I get into any potentially upsetting specifics, how would you feel about me lightly hypnotizing you to make it easier to spot what might be buried in there? It's a less destructive tool than a magnifying glass."
"I would feel like my patience is being tested," Whippoorwill responds flatly. "Do you have a mental block against being direct? Out with it. How is Horizon compromised? And how could I be, if I never even faced the Archdeacon?"
Femtite lets PixieTrixie get a good look (but no touching!) at her true pixite shape, though she can be no more than a decimeter tall in that form. If the artist puts her hands within a few feet, she’ll feel the heat emanating from that little body. Photos are allowed, and may be helpful if PixieTrixie wants to sell antenna band with the left one bent like Femtite’s was from her childhood accident.
She of course praises all her fans’ efforts or, if there’s anything really that bad, she still asks for the artist’s name. Of course Conway will determine whose project makes the A-List.
Femtite tries not to say more about herself than is necessary to make the point. She could mention Max’s challenge of once being a boy interested in girls before she was the one getting ogled by boys, and eventually noticed girls who ogled back! Femtite could also mention how passing for humanish led to some one-sided expectations, as if her culture was meaningless and she was the one who had to ‘human-up.’ But she leaves it at: “Passing for human-ish has its own set of challenges, but let’s just acknowledge you, DD and I each have unique challenges with common ground—
“—the big one being what you just said: the worry of how people react to you. It’s a debilitating fear. And what hurts the most is the frequency of its being realized and the offender’s obliviousness.” Recalling Hendricks’ shocked expression, she assures Percy, “McCoy didn’t how he sounded. I don’t even know if our teammates knew—they only responded to my dumb question, which was really just me blurting the first thing in my head. My futile attempt to bury the DA’s words in the noise. Sorry… of course if I felt it, you did.”
She has a generous interpretation of what the DA might have been thinking, but making excuses for the DA is not her purpose.
“Percy, I don’t know what’s in McCoy Hendricks’ heart and mind. But I do know what helped me numb the pain, and make all the insensitivity and ignorance feel… not malicious.
“Would you like to hear it? It didn’t happen in the presence of any of our teammates, if that helps.” Thinking of a funny word she learned from Connie, Femtite grins a little. “It was… Chastity’s beard.”
Connie puts a thumb on one of her rings. "Because I think Cortex got to you. He definitely got to Shin."
Whippoorwill displays a rare showing of surprise. "Cortex? Why would he be involved? He's not connected... well, there's the Estate, but that's tenuous at best. He wouldn't be interested in joining the Archdeacon at all. In fact, he'd probably be a major threat to the collective."
She stops her musing. "Why do you think this?"