"All of you are acting like children, we did this as a team and noone is to blame individually. Stop lashing out at one another and think for just a second, if we're too busy fighting ourselves then we're no better than the villains we all preach to fight against!"
"Wow my dude. Wow. You're really going to Both Sides this shit when Teenwolf tried to tear out my f$&%ing throat?"
Snatching her fallen wand from the ground she pulled off her jacket and bundled it up with the jewelry she'd been wearing on her burned hand.
Once she'd made sure she wasn't leaving any of her stuff behind she stormed out in search of a bathroom and some cool water.
Max is relieved once Caio calms down and Conflux storms off. She casts a withering glance at the departing girl, then moves to Caio's side. "Hey. You okay? That guy knocked you into next week!"
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As Max and Candy Grrl help her get things under control, suddenly there is wind! And once that blows over…
Femtite taps on the claw marks on the hood of her car. Not wanting to escalate Ciao, she says to Horizon, “You see this? This can be repaired. You know what cannot be? Trust.
“I hope this is the only time I need to rescue Connie from a so-called teammate. She’s right—there’s no Both Sidesing this. She was attacked verbally, then when she retaliated verbally, she was attacked physically. That is not a biased opinion because she’s my roommate. That is fact.
“But I know better than to overstep, so as team leader, I’ll let you address this in your Earthly way. As Connie’s roommate, and one who’s permitted to enter a Ladies’ Room, I will check on Connie.”
She doesn’t even look at Max or Ciao as she shrinks her vehicle to a heart pendant. She does smile at Candy Grrl as she walks past. “Thanks,” she whispers. Her glowing eyes linger on the colorful candium plating before she tosses her hair and exits.
* * *
Femtite slowly approaches, “Connie… I am so sorry that… that happened. I don’t understand any of this. You were brilliant—you stoped the bad guy and…
“I’m surprised at Max. Less so at Ciao, except I thought he was all bark and…” She stops herself from saying the word ‘bite.’
“I don’t want to talk about him. I don’t want to talk about anyone but us… I wasn’t fast enough, but I hope you saw I tried to protect you. I hope you can trust me to be a loyal friend.”
Molten gold trickles down both cheeks as Femtite’s eyes meet Connie’s. Her arms are stiffly by her side like a soldier awaiting a reprimand.
When finally in control of himself once more, Caio starts to recompose himself by tightening his belt and looking for his jacket. He already doesn't care too much about the T-shirt, since they always become destroyed.
He is glad that Max comes to check on him, since he was already half expecting to be kicked out of the team. "I'm fine, though I hurt Conflux... I need to apologize to her." He looks at his bloodied hand. Her blood. "This should never have happened."
Caio then looks at Horizon, angry for a moment. "Oi Horizon! Do you remember that song I have sent you back in the train station? Yeah, this would have been a great moment to play it... next time, do it instead of throwing everything at me." Noticing his anger, he breathes slowly, calming himself again. "I do not say this to blame you or anything..." He shows his bloodied hand. "This was my fault. But the song would have kept me from attacking her."
Connie had spread out a small first aid kit and was running her hand under some cool water when Femtite came in"What?! Yeah Femms, of course I do! Drop some therms and bring it in" She held her burned hand off to the side, but gestured Femtite in for a hug with the other.
"Seriously, thanks Femms. That was scary as hell and without you and Love Bug... I don't know if I would've gotten my Break Glass ward up in time."[/b] She gave Femtite a final tight squeeze that left a bit of dampness and mascara on her sweatervest.
She was already smiling by the time she pulled back. "But hey, at least I learned a couple things: I need to step up development on an ICE ward that I don't have to consciously trigger. I'm not too worried about Max. Like, if she'd been the one to slam me up against a wall then... well I'd need to think about that in depth, but it's a different story. And well, I already had 'a collar for Caio' on my to-do list, but that was mostly just my initial reaction to a werewolf from reading too much, uh, urban fantasy..."
She trailed off, realizing that sauciness hadn't brought Femtite's mood all they back up to sunny goodness. "I really am fine. It sucked; I was scared; what's next? This is just... it's what I do. Something goes wrong, or hurts me, I can't just lie back and accept it. I have to make a plan and move forward. Even if it doesn't mean I go through with it, I have to have a plan."
Caio then looks at Horizon, angry for a moment. "Oi Horizon! Do you remember that song I have sent you back in the train station? Yeah, this would have been a great moment to play it... next time, do it instead of throwing everything at me." Noticing his anger, he breathes slowly, calming himself again. "I do not say this to blame you or anything..." He shows his bloodied hand. "This was my fault. But the song would have kept me from attacking her."
"No it wouldn't have." Horizon bluntly replies to Caio, calling him out. "Exactly what point between you lunging to tear out your teammate's throat and nearly accomplishing that could we have played a song, Caio? You attacked her because you didn't like being treated like a dog, and yet you reacted by acting out like a wild animal. Let me be crystal clear - you ever intentionally harm a member of this team again, betray that trust, then you can't be on the team."
He steps up to Caio and crosses his arms in front of his chest. "You are responsible for every choice you make in this life, including the ones where you don't try to keep yourself under control. You can't use this song as an excuse for why you did something dangerous to Conflux. She said something that made you mad, so tell her off, don't use violence. Right now, everyone has to cool off, so let's avoid further confrontation right now - you can apologize to her the next time you're together." He offers him a hand shake, meeting his gaze through his visor.
Femtite takes in the hug, wishes Connie wouldn’t let go, but when she does… the whispered words are even warmer.
When she sees Connie washing her hand, she is horrified by the burned flesh. “Oh, Connie… fire does this to you? Water cannot reverse a chemical change. Please, come.”
Femtite takes Connie to the hand-dryer.
“This device blasts warm air. Surely you’re aware of a human theory correlating heat transfer and health. It has been dismissed as pseudoscience and bovine excrement, but it is in fact sound.
“With some adjustments… excuse me one moment.” Femtite becomes a fairy, a spark, nothing. The air dryer begins to quiver and sputter amber steam.
After a minute or so, the off-white plastic cover begins to sprout pinkish-purplish crystals. The hand-dryer takes on a distorted shape, and the tube where air would come out pulsates a sun-yellow glow.
A spark grows to become a fairy who grows human-sized, yellow and fiery and not-yet-huggable. Femtite transforms her body to flesh and clothes herself… though her outfit has shreds as if clawed several times. (Connie might notice the sweater vest is no longer mascara-stained.)
She seems not to care (about her outfit) as she smiles warmly at Conflux. “Hold your hand under this, Connie. Let’s see if the heat can expedite the healing process.”
Once Connie’s ready, Femtite presses the big red button.
"I...I'll be out in the hall."
He shuffles over towards Yeoman and the door. "Are you okay Teacher?"
Yeoman nods and waves off Percy's concern. "Yes, quite all right. I would not have lasted all these years if a little bit of ceiling could knock me out of commission!"
With the tense moment of conflict over for the moment, Yeoman officially dismisses class. "I believe it will be advisable that we meet off-campus next time, so that the academy's buildings are less likely in danger. I will update you all on the venue."
"Yes, it would." Caio replies to Horizon, sure of his words. He opens his jacket showing him one of his tattoos, which at first looks strange and arcane much like the others, except this one has several circles around it strange dots along the circle... dots that upon close inspection look much like musical notes. "That song is my 'safeguard'... it intensifies the other wards and it helps me a lot to regain control when things get out of hand, even if this drains me so much that I can barely walk thereafter. As soon as Alcott was gone and I'd returned, we were in no danger and thus the Wolf was not needed anymore. Think of me as a gun if you need to... once it is not needed anymore, turn the safety switch and holster it."
"I attacked her because the Wolf did not like her calling it a dog, and I acted as the wild animal that I am. I know it was wrong, but I'd like for you to believe that I had no intention to neither attack her, nor harm her. And I did tried to control myself. And I will apologize to her... if she let's me speak to her. I'd not blame her if she did not, and if that is the case, feel free to remove me from the team. She is far more useful and far less dangerous than me."
"When you look at me, do you see the man, or the monster?" He asks Horizon, but then looks also at Max and Candy Grrl. "If you see the man, then help me not to hurt people... but if you see the monster... then put put me out while you can."
At Femtite's appreciation Candy Grrl smiles awkwardly, mirroring her quiet tone;
<No low volume grratitudes necessarry Frriend Femtite. ♬ Kindness is like sugar, it makes life taste a little sweeter♬.>
When Caio bids that she act should he lose control, the candroid tilts her head curiously and scans him from head to foot - eyes glowing bright white;
<My optics do not see a monsterr Frriend Caio. Nor a firrearrm. I observe a carbon based being whose prrotective composition is suboptimal to my Candium™ chassis, but you are an important hero-jazz playerr. This much I have learned.>
”You know how I see you, Caio,” Max says, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. ”You are my best friend. My only friend now, really. I’ll always have your back, no matter what. Just like I hope you’ll have mine.”
She looks at her own clawed hand and scowls. ”At least your Wolf goes away when it’s not needed. I always look like the monster I’ve become.”
|
Yeoman nods and waves off Percy's concern. "Yes, quite all right. I would not have lasted all these years if a little bit of ceiling could knock me out of commission!"
With a visible nod even from under his hood. "That's good, I had hoped that I performed the correct spell of retrieval and teleportation in the heat of things. Though one of the younger students seems to be missing."
Stepping out into the hall to try and get away from the high emotions inside the now mess of a classroom Percy allowed himself to squeeze the enchanted staff in his hand as a source of release. The leather gloves squeaking in protest for a moment. 'Oh I'm two-faced? I can't choose to say both of my friends are wrong when they both screwed up, that's rich.' A moment passed and he replayed the situation in his mind, Conflux off-handedly insulting Caio knowing the wolf was already at the surface and out for revenge against that bounty hunter. Caio trying to attack Connie, now they were both hurt.
He looked down at the spellbook, situated in his satchel and let out a sigh, 'All this power and I can't even help anyone with their real problems' Turning to look back at the classroom where the others were making up and making there deals again he couldn't help but feel alone. He reached out concocting a very simple spell and whisking it towards Conflux.
"Hey Percy here, pretty easy sending spell I hope your burns are good."
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<No low volume grratitudes necessarry Frriend Femtite. ♬ Kindness is like sugar, it makes life taste a little sweeter♬.>
What the others had neither heard nor seen when Femtite walked away with a hair flip and sway of the hip—
Femtite’s furnace of a heart flared with excitement as the candroid sang a sweet song of kindness just for her. Machine or living creature, it doesn’t change the fact she is adorable.
“The Confectionist wasn’t all bad. He made you.”
The whisper is near-inaudible, but Candy Grrl surely heard Femtite loud and clear.
"If you are a man, then you need to learn to reign in your anger on your own," Horizon tells Caio. "Even if it's just a timer on your own phone to play that music whenever you choose to 'unholster' yourself," He suggests to him. "You've obviously thought ahead on this safeguard, so I won't hear any more excuses that your team didn't press a button for you to turn yourself off. That's your responsibility, not ours."
He looks to Max next, as Yeoman dismisses the class for the time being. "The same way I look at Caio as a human responsible for his actions, I see you as just as human. We're all flawed and learning to work together. You're not a monster - a monster isn't what's on the surface but what's in their heart. Darkness, cruelty, a lack of compassion - that's what makes real monsters."
Shin's typical school day:
- Wake in dorm room, shower, basic exercise, finish any remaining homework.
- Head to classes, meet friends between classes, spend time with Grace during the lunch hour.
- Afternoon, depending on the day, either watching volleyball practice, or having time to play with Hoshiko over the web for shogi, go or chess, or heading out on patrols with Whippoorwill.
This had not been as typical of a school day as he'd imagined it would be. Hence why he was currently texting Grace to see if she had time to meet up today. Probably not as her schedule was fairly busy, but he could use a friendly face right now.
What was worrying to him however was that Whippoorwill had been unreachable. Maybe it was just that Alcott was preventing them from putting out a signal, or interference from the mages in the group - at any rate, he gave her another call to see if everything was all right.
Horizon hears back from Whippoorwill late that night. His comm beeps, with instructions to meet her at the top of the school's bell tower.
Whippoorwill is pacing back and forth on the narrow lip of the slanted roof. She looks especially irritated.
"I heard from Yeoman. We've got a lot to unpack, so go ahead. I need to hear your impression of this Alcott, and how your assessment of how your teammates performed. Honest assessments."
A songbird flutters up and tries to perch on her shoulder. She shoos it away while she listens.
Caio is glad to hear Candy Grrl and Max supporting him. "I'll also always have your back Max, and you are no monster at all. You don't hurt people and to be honest you don't even look like a monster. Not at all... You are a beautiful woman, and that is it, even with the nails, horns and tail."
As Horizon speaks, however, Caio just can't believe.
"Oh, what a great idea! How had I not thought about setting a timer!" He says, clearly being sarcastic. "Perhaps because the whole fight would be on a timer! What if the timer rings in the middle of the fight? What if the bad guys nearby learn that they can use it to essentially put me out of the fight? Or what if the fight goes faster than expected? Will you wait for the timer?"
"Puta merda... Horizon, seriously, if you want to be the leader, you need to learn to listen. What happened today was my fault. I think I've already said that three times. I'm not blaming shit on any one of you, and I'm not giving excuses. It happened because I lost control. It was my fault."
"If I lose control of myself, I can't play the music. If I could, I'd still be in control! If this happens you can either watch me fighting with myself while everyone is at risk, or you can press a f~~~ing button and save the day. If I hurt anyone, it will be on me, no on you or anyone else. Even if you could press a f~#+ing button and avoid it and decides not to because it is on me control myself." Caio seems desperate. "I'm literally asking you to help me not harm anyone else, and you are just saying 'f#!% it, deal with it yourself'."
Max smiles at Horizon’s words—
”You are a beautiful woman, and that is it, even with the nails, horns and tail.”
—but the smile falters when Caio chimes in. ”Right, um, well, I should go...” she mutters, searching for her discarded sweatsuit. She hastily puts it on, covering up her feminine form, and heads for her dorm room.
***
Max’s typical school day:
-Wake up, stare mournfully at reflection for a few minutes, eat breakfast
-Go to classes, be embarrassed throughout gym class, hide from other classmates’ stares
-Hang out with Caio in between classes and after school, play video games, try to feel as normal as possible
-Suffer through an incredibly awkward shower, watch movies and surf the Internet, stay up too late and fall asleep eventually
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Percy's Typical School Day:
- Wake up at dorms, do some light exercises stretching and such, breakfast
- Finish up homework, head to classes keep up with schoolwork first and foremost.
- Evenings typically consist of hanging out with Conflux to relax and brainstorm new arcane formulae. Researching a possible fix for DD and Caio. Finish up homework and dorm cooked dinner.
- When it crops up go do some heroing.
Femtite takes in the hug, wishes Connie wouldn’t let go, but when she does… the whispered words are even warmer.
When she sees Connie washing her hand, she is horrified by the burned flesh. “Oh, Connie… fire does this to you? Water cannot reverse a chemical change. Please, come.”
"What? Oh it's just to cool the burn so that- Yeah sure."
Femtite takes Connie to the hand-dryer.
“This device blasts warm air. Surely you’re aware of a human theory correlating heat transfer and health. It has been dismissed as pseudoscience and bovine excrement, but it is in fact sound.
“With some adjustments… excuse me one moment.” Femtite becomes a fairy, a spark, nothing. The air dryer begins to quiver and sputter amber steam.
After a minute or so, the off-white plastic cover begins to sprout pinkish-purplish crystals. The hand-dryer takes on a distorted shape, and the tube where air would come out pulsates a sun-yellow glow.
A spark grows to become a fairy who grows human-sized, yellow and fiery and not-yet-huggable. Femtite transforms her body to flesh and clothes herself… though her outfit has shreds as if clawed several times. (Connie might notice the sweater vest is no longer mascara-stained.)
She seems not to care (about her outfit) as she smiles warmly at Conflux. “Hold your hand under this, Connie. Let’s see if the heat can expedite the healing process.”
Once Connie’s ready, Femtite presses the big red button.
Connie was visibly tense, expecting the blast of hot air to at least feel like a hot shower on a sunburn, but Femms' crazy tech always seemed to work like she'd said so... "Oh. Oh that feels weird!" She scrunched up her face, wriggling her nose like she was trying to hold in a sneeze, but she kept her hand squarely under the heat. "I'm not totally sure this is something that actually works for humans, Femms, but- oh damn it's shrinking!" The nascent blisters shrank away to nothing, and the redness faded til only the slightest scar could be seen.
Smiling more at the surprise than the healing, Connie gushed, "Okay, not now, but I am gonna get you to hook me up with the specs for that."
***
:Hey Percy here, pretty easy sending spell I hope your burns are good.:
She could feel his spell as a slight pressure in her mind, waiting for her response. Simple, yeah. Bi-directional instantaneous mental communication with an in-built privacy shield (by staying out of surface thoughts and only drawing from intent-based word-specific replies), just as easy as making an apple pie from scratch. Step 1: Invent the universe; step 2: add apples or whatever. He's fun to hang out with but that boy can be such a tuurrrrrddddd.
:Yep, thanks to Femms. I've got class and then I've gotta gather reagents, but figure out how you're making that shitshow up to me soon.:
Figures that even without 25 words to say he'd cast the full power version of the spell.
Skyler hangs around at the periphery, watching the altercations and interplay from a distance. At some point, she ventures close to Femtite. "Hey, uh, I just wanted to say thanks for scooping me up into the Magenta-mobile. I don't think the alien was interested in an aura reading, so I wasn't going to be much use to you."
She rubs her shoulders and looks away. "All right, I should get back to my room. Later."
Femtite is ecstatic. “It really worked—yay!”
The transformed hand-dryer falls off the wall. The pinkish-purplish crystals dissipate and, with a poof of amber smoke, the hand-dryer reverts to its normal self. Or rather, what its normal self would look like after being set on fire and having said fire extinguished with hydrochloric acid.
“Say, Connie… I gotta head to the museum. Wanna come? There’s something I’ve been dying to show ya!”
* * *
Femtite replies to Skyler, “No problem! I’m happy to help. Maybe I can take you for a spin after Mel repairs it.”
She doesn’t explain who Mel is.
Horizon looks at Caio while Max leaves abruptly, before sighing and shaking his head. "Caio, timeline of events. Fight ended. You came back seconds later. At what point are we supposed to know you're out of control? When you approached Max? Or the very few seconds before you then attacked Conflux? Should we just always assume you can't control the wolf when it's out? If that's the case, then how can you be an effective member of this team if everyone on it has to watch their backs around you?" He feels this is a losing battle, but he needs Caio to understand.
"This is why it's you who needs to set limits to yourself to prevent that from happening. Work with Indarius or Conflux to see about modifying your runes if you have to do so. Modify it so it triggers on attempting to attack a member of the team or a noncombatant," He finishes with Caio. "Because otherwise one day you'll end up killing someone. And if that happens there's no more helping you."
"Alcott's got some highly advanced armor, making him out to look ten to twelve feet tall and some psychic abilities to boot. He came here looking for Praetoria. I asked him to work within our system, and he pretty much threatened the city if he didn't get what he wanted. The fight did a number on the room, but Conflux managed to warp him back to his universe with some totem of hers.
It's really the aftermath that's...not so great. Caio physically assaulted Conflux, and then spread the blame to the team for not stopping him. I had a talk with him to see if he can't figure out a better control method, but I don't know if he's listened.
Indarius has a lot of power, but he's also immature. He buffered everyone apart, and didn't seem to understand that it wasn't just an argument about the fight but that we were trying to break up an assault between teammates.
Max seems to be easily stressed as well. I think that she might want to find a way to change back to her previous form from what I talked to her about, but she's also trying to be on Caio's side of things. I need more time to assess that.
Candy, Steel and Femtite all worked fairly well together that I could see. Candy and Femtite seem particularly attached to each other. Steel Guardian on the other hand is...well, I'll try working to get them to be more inclusive in the group. They left right before the incident, so we'll see how they feel about it.
And Conflux is smart...maybe too smart? She seems to be someone who thinks she has all the answers and speaks her mind regardless of tact. I think that I'll need to talk with her about that.
Overall, the fight was straightforward, and the aftermath really showed the cracks in our foundation...and, uh, sensei, I got to ask, what's with the bird?"
"Sure. I'm guessing you don't have your own student ID or something else to get in free right? Okay, you borrow mine; lemme throw on something so I read more like a student and less like a troublemaker."
Back in their room she transferred the contents of the bulging pockets of her cargo pants and concealing jacket to a Jansport, popped out her contacts and put on some hardcore nerd rims, and then shimmied into a hoodie with the picture of a bulldog with CCHR written on the collar. It was very loungey in size, so it mostly hid the cute skirt that completed the ensemble.
She held her ID up like a camera, pointing her picture at Femtite's face to overwrite it. "Say Cheese!"
Whippoorwill listens attentively, absorbing everything he says. "All right, I'll get this over to Praetor Tower. I can be the go-between you and Praetoria, if you'd like.
"As for your team, well, that's why we're having these classes. I'll provide your feedback to the next teacher/coach. I didn't want you engaging a threat even close to this Alcott's level -- that you all fought him off is impressive, given his reputation. Try to make sure they see that."
She winces when Horizon asks about the bird. She appears embarrassed when she holds her hand out and the bird immediately jumps into her palm. He can even see her cheeks redden beneath her domino mask. "It's, uh, a side-effect." She shoos it away again and pinches her brow. "I'm sure you'll hear about it; it was public enough. But focus on your own work, okay?"
What do you do??
"I guess I'll never know the difference between you helping or not then, if you think you are helping me. If I kill someone, I won't need your help. It will be too late." Caio turns around to follow Max, sprinting to catch up.
---
"Hey Max. I... sorry for what I've said before. It looks like it made you uncomfortable." He says, completely embarrassed and anxious. "Not sure why I've said that that way... all I wanted to say is that I still see you as my friend and that I can't see you as a monster. I did not meant so say anything weird."
"So... pizza and game night? It is Wednesday..." He invites him, trying to return to 'normal' life. For many years, he, Max, and other friends used to meet every Wednesday to play something... board games, video games, card games or RPGs, but when Max was turned, the others decided to kick Max out of the group, and Caio decided to leave with him. Since then he has tried to keep the game night alive. He wanted for Max to feel normal... and Caio also loved games.
"One other item to address - with the number of magic using members of the team, I think that we need to see about getting them someone versed in magic to tutor them. Conflux to smooth out her edges, Caio to expand what he can do with his rune magic, and Indarius to try and impose some more self control for him. Do you think that's possible?"
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:Hey Percy here, pretty easy sending spell I hope your burns are good.:
She could feel his spell as a slight pressure in her mind, waiting for her response. Simple, yeah. Bi-directional instantaneous mental communication with an in-built privacy shield (by staying out of surface thoughts and only drawing from intent-based word-specific replies), just as easy as making an apple pie from scratch. Step 1: Invent the universe; step 2: add apples or whatever. He's fun to hang out with but that boy can be such a tuurrrrrddddd.
:Yep, thanks to Femms. I've got class and then I've gotta gather reagents, but figure out how you're making that s+%&show up to me soon.:
Figures that even without 25 words to say he'd cast the full power version of the spell.
Well shit, guess that means I should get something to make it up to her. Percy sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose before walking down the hallway a bit trying to think of what he could do to make it up to Conflux. Maybe scout out a new location for them to delve into try to divine out some new artifact for her. First things first though, he needed to get in contact with Feya see if she had any advice on working with such a hectic group, especially since it was her idea all along. So he pulled out his phone and sent her a text.
Walking along he watched as Caio took off down the hall after Max who had left quite suddenly and in a hurry.
"Hey Caio! Uh I really messed up back there didn't I..." we all did "Look I hope that we can all try again and still be a team, I just really don't know if I'm a good fit for the whole team thing. But aside from the one you uh... did good man." Saying it outloud sounded way worse than he had hoped in his head but really just wanted the point to get across clearly.
"Hey Max. I... sorry for what I've said before. It looks like it made you uncomfortable." He says, completely embarrassed and anxious. "Not sure why I've said that that way... all I wanted to say is that I still see you as my friend and that I can't see you as a monster. I did not meant so say anything weird."
"So... pizza and game night? It is Wednesday..."
Max tries to stay mad at Caio, but she just can’t. ”It’s okay. It’s just awkward, still, to hear stuff like that. A beautiful woman. I know that’s what I look like, but that’s not how I feel. And that’s never something I wanted to be.”
She looks at her friend and her smile returns. ”You know I never skip out on a Wednesday night! Come on, let’s go. You’re paying for the pizza this time!”
Whippoorwill takes a moment to think. "I'll ask around. See who might be up to the task." She shoos away the bird once more, then turns to Shin. "Well, unless there's anything else, I think we'll skip tonight's patrol. It's late enough and you need to stay close to the team. Make sure it's holding together."
She nods, her usual way of saying goodbye, or goodnight, and she spreads her wings to take off.
You catch your reflection in the window next to your seat in class. Suddenly, it shifts into that of Feya Firestorm who reaches out of the glass surface and grabs your astral form. She yanks you through
into the reflection.
She looks you over in that condescending way she always seems to have. "You're lucky I ever glance at this confounding contraption. You should use the paranet."
It's an odd sensation, being two-dimensional inside a pane of glass, but it lets you converse freely. "So, what's this about?"
Back in their room she transferred the contents of the bulging pockets of her cargo pants and concealing jacket to a Jansport, popped out her contacts and put on some hardcore nerd rims, and then shimmied into a hoodie with the picture of a bulldog with CCHR written on the collar. It was very loungey in size, so it mostly hid the cute skirt that completed the ensemble.
Femtite sits on the bed, giggling as Conflux changes her outfit. “Showing a little leg—extra cute with the specs! Cheese.”
She wears the lanyard but shrinks to half her height. Her clothing and heart pendant adjust with her, but the ID is still the same size. It slips off over her reduced shoulders and drops to the floor. Femtite grows to her full height of 5’9”.
“Oh, Connie, your plan is lovely… but there is only one exhibit I want to see. It’s a piece of the meteorite that crashed before either of us were born. I don’t know where it crashed, but there is a very large piece of it under a glass case. The exposed interior is amethyst.”
She is smiling as she speaks of this, but the expression does not match the quiver in her voice. Femtite’s hands are clutching the hem of her skirt, tightly.
“Every day people come and see the amethyst. They look at it, ooh, ahh, cheese, and then they move on, and more come.”
Molten gold trickles from one glowing eye, lining Femtite’s cheek.
“The first time I grew tall enough to perceive them… I was so scared. I clung to my mother’s ankle and she picked me up and assured me that the titans love to gaze at our amethyst mountains, as we do.”
Femtite doesn’t explain what she’s all choked up about. She simply says,
“I don’t need a fake ID. Just you and a purse or pocket I can hide in. All you gotta do is stand near my home planet—I call it Nanometeor. Errr, get it?
“Anyway, just pretend you think the amethyst is pretty and… well, I want my mother to see you. And that’s all. We can leave after a few minutes.”
She forces a toothy smile and gives a two-thumbs up. She tries to fight off sobs by bobbing her shoulders twice and pretending her eyes aren’t leaking.
Caio turns as Percy calls for him. "You did good Percy, don't worry about it. You are a good fit to the team. Now, lets talk about something else, right? Come with us... we'll get some pizza and games... are you familiar with Magic the Gathering?"
"Welcome, welcome everyone, to Cape Watch! Your source for all things heroic! I'm part one of your hosts, Gail Weatherby."
"And I'm the other half, Jerry Woodrow. Together, our powers combine to form the best show on the Infini-Web! What have we got today, Gail?"
"Exciting stuff, Jerry! The Alliance faced a four-color felonious fiend last night! Let's take a look at the footage!"
"What am I looking at, Gail? That looks like... a cartoon! "
"Indeed! This technicolor terror seemed to warp reality into animation! A whole section of Halcyon City was turned into cartoons last night!"
"Unbelievable. Ani-mayhem! And it's not just the buildings around the lower east side that were affected! That's the Alliance members themselves!"
"True enough, Jerry! Of course, all eyes are on Captain Stalwart! He's looking good as an after-school Superfriend! He still commands respect, even in cell-shaded glory!"
"Let's see how the warp affected the others! Oh, look there! Ordnance is impressive as a Japanese manga mech!"
"Right you are! Look at him switch from a jet fighter to a battle-bot! That's a look I'm sure he'll want to keep!"
"Then, it's a shame that the Alliance put an end to the cell-shaded shenanigans! What are we going to call this guy? The Animator? The Cartoonist?"
"Not your call, Jerry. Oh! Look there! Imagerie is sooo cute as a Saturday morning cartoon character! And all the rainbows and unicorns she's generating with her illusion power -- what a great look for her!"
"I'll take your word for it, Gail. Let's see... Where's Yeoman? I think he'd look great in an old timey animation style! He's got those rubber-hose arms already!"
"I don't think he was there. But look! Foray, in gritty black and white!"
"It's certainly a style that suits him, don't you think? Rough around the edges, lots of motion blur -- look at the glint off those swords of his!"
"Great, Jerry! But what I want to know is: Where's the winged heroine, Whippoorwill? I'm dying to find out her animation style!"
"Oh! I think I saw her! Freeze frame! Go back, she's being camera shy for some reason."
"Let's check, we might have a better angle from our sky-cam. Ah! There she is! She's a--"
"Disney princess."
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Percy wrung his hands on his staff, "Uh.. yeah i've heard of it.. Hey I know you wanna talk about something different but, you really did do good. Conflux said the burn has already been healed up by Femtite." He wanted so bad to just turn and walk back to his dorm to figure out something to get Connie to make up for tonight, but he just needed to know as he looked at Caio, was there fear in his eyes?
Indarius:You catch your reflection in the window next to your seat in class. Suddenly, it shifts into that of Feya Firestorm who reaches out of the glass surface and grabs your astral form. She yanks you through
into the reflection.She looks you over in that condescending way she always seems to have. "You're lucky I ever glance at this confounding contraption. You should use the paranet."
It's an odd sensation, being two-dimensional inside a pane of glass, but it lets you converse freely. "So, what's this about?"
Percy, jumped ever so slightly at the sudden shift of his reflection to that of his teacher Feya Firestorm. His body lurched up slightly and then very slowly drifted down towards a slump in the real world as he was pulled out of his physical self and over to the Astral realm.
Those watching closely might be able to tell that there wasn't much going on behind the eyes as Percy leaned heavily on the book he was reading from like he was slowly melting into the seat after getting hit with a horse tranquilizer.
Connie nodded along with Femtite's request, a bit distracted by the thorough mental kicking she was giving herself over forgetting how easy it was to sneak Femms places. Only when Femtite started talking about being afraid did it click that Ohhh she's crying
Oh no she is **crying**
Oh why is she crying?
"Oh! Sure!" Connie said, her voice to high and too loud. "Yeah! We'll definitely go see Nanometeor! Or... not? We could go to that roller derby again if that's not what you want? Or just-" She chomped down on the inside of her lips to stop herself from babbling, pulling her arms up into the sleeves of her hoodie.
She took three quick breaths out her nose and tried to start again, Cry? No Cry. No I- "What's wrong Femms? How can I help?"
***
Femtite tries to stiffen that upper lip. Correct her posture. Mind her tone.
“Sorry, I… I know you won’t make this… humiliating. It’s hard to explain the feeling, but… imagine a creature who makes Alcott seem like an insect. Now, imagine a creature who makes that creature look like an insect. Keep going, until the creature is so big, to it the Earth is like a desktop globe to you.
“The diameter of the Earth in feet is 41.8 million. A globe… one. That’s the scale.”
She stands up, holding a pillow in her hands.
“Imagine several creatures forty million times your height. The atmospheric conditions block them from most people, but you can perceive the titans. At first, you’re told how these benevolent creatures created your atmosphere as a protective shield.
“But then one day, the titans get bored looking at the Moon. They stuff it in a closet, or perhaps it goes in a dumpster.”
She casually tosses the pillow onto the bed.
She wipes her eyes, taking comfort in Connie’s words. “I’m fortunate to have you as a friend, Connie. My entire world may be fortunate that I have a very smart, very kind friend.”
She usually has breakfast in her microscopic fiery form, consuming a bacteria ten times her size by flying inside it and burning it into energy. Or she’ll fly through a virus swarm and devour them like a whale to plankton. Microscopic fungi are her chocolate!
Picking out an outfit… so many are programmed into Love Bug, The. Again, new temporary arrangement needed.
Honors and AP classes. Femtite isn’t as smart as Connie, but she’s trained to study hard, know all there is to know about Earth.
She sneaks glances at Candy Grrl, the most curious Earthling of all! And Connie… any time Connie wants to learn about Femtite or show Femtite more of the human experience, she’s up for it.
Homework is a great way to avoid socializing. Socializing is a great way to learn what school doesn’t teach.
Caio doesn't answer Percy, just nods. He is annoyed at him bringing the subject again, but certainly not scared of him.
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Seeing that Caio wasn't cowed by his presence Percy nodded, "You know maybe I can play a few games. I'm not, that good at MtG despite all this though. Also I might have to run early, got some homework to catch up on." The homework bit was a lie, but he wanted to be able to dip out if Feya got back with him while they were together, he knew she could be difficult sometimes.
True to his word however Percy was kind of awful at Magic and despite all the things he was feeling at the moment he really made an effort to just hang out with both Caio and Max.
Max follows Caio and Percy back to Caio's dorm room, where they pass the evening chowing down on pizza and laughing and shouting over several rounds of Magic. The demoness holds her own with her blue/black zombie deck. Here, in the familiar trappings of friendship, Max feels the most like her old self. Just hanging out with her friends and trying to forget the power and responsibility that has been thrust on her shoulders.
As the night draws to its end, Max stands and stretches. "Thanks for hanging with us, Percy. Same time next week, yeah?" She favors Caio with an inadvertently alluring smile.
Feya arches a severe eyebrow. "I'm sorry, perhaps next time I'll send you an engraved invitation to the spirit realm. Considering you still haven't mastered the art of astral communication, maybe we can enchant a pair of cans and a string." Her acerbic tirade over, she listens to Percy's concerns.
After a silent and judgmental pause clearly designed to make him uncomfortable, Feya sighs. "You 'almost' lost control. You separated arguing teammates. Can I assume, then, because you neglected to complain of yet another building's destruction that such an event did not occur? Similarly, you have not yet bemoaned of harming an ally or friend, so shall I take it that you also managed to avoid that unhappy circumstance?
"Percival, your access to the powers of magic are so great that you will always 'almost lose control.' Do not trouble your mind over what could have happened. That will always be with you, unless you set that book down and never pick it up again. Need I go on?"
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He floated there for a moment gazing back out into reality to make sure noone was overly suspicious of his unconscious form, but it seemed noone had caught on just yet. "In my defense... the whole building wasn't destroyed this time only a bit of roof. I did manage to teleport the non-combatants out of the area too. But yeah I guess... I didn't hurt anyone, Caio almost did, Conflux more hurt herself, but she's upset at me for trying to say we shouldn't be fighting one another. Otherwise we wouldn't be any better than villains. And we've already talked about that a bit, you know I don't want to just give up. Could we maybe go over drawing from leylines again later tonight... in person? If not I suppose Conflux might be up for it again." All in all this hadn't gone bad yet, he just wanted to not have to do this quite so on his own anymore. Then again Feya was probably right he needed to stop second guessing himself.
Caio enjoys his time with Max and Percy, almost forgetting about the whole trouble he caused earlier. He lends Percy one of his decks, the easiest one, and even so he manages to stink... Caio finds this amusing, mostly because Percy is an actual wizard.
"Sure, same time!" He gives his goodbyes, glad to have a normal night.
However, as soon as the door closes, Caio grabs his phone and backpack, opens his window and jumps into the night. He swiftly moves around the campus until he reaches the girl's dorm and quickly and stealthily climbs to the rooftop of the dorm.
He then sends a message to Conflux. It is late, but perhaps she is still awake. "Conflux, would like to speak with you in private. You'll be safe, I promise. I'm at your rooftop." A couple seconds after the message, he sends her a picture of his hands locked in silver handcuffs.
Femtite sees Skyler in the hall.
“Heyyy, Skyler. School’s not so exciting after, y’know…? Well, math can be exciting—finding that elusive derivative! Anyway, my roommate Connie doesn’t have that popular childhood toy kicking around. Y’know, Barbie. Or Elsa might’ve been more popular when you were of doll-playing age.” Getting to the point, she asks, “Do you think I could maybe… borrow a doll like that? Or a few, so I can change the outfits!”
Femtite is blushing furiously, though her expression is giddy. Who knows why she’s reacting this way just asking about a human childhood experience she missed? Maybe it’s just how pixites are kinda different.
Feya purses her lips as she regards Percy. "Very well. Meet me where the Celtolabrian Ley Line meets the Unseelie Stone," she says, which was totally unnecessary since she could have just said the "Starbucks on Hamilton Boulevard." Well, there was a giant boulder with ties to the Unseelie Court in the park across the street that's directly below the ley line, but Feya was no doubt going to be getting her London Fog Tea Latte.
With that, she gestures and Percy is back in his body and about to hit his head on the desk.
Skyler's eyes narrow as she tries to keep up with Femtite's speaking pattern. Then they widen in shock at the request. "Wait, you think I'd have Barbie dolls here at school? Umm, no. I didn't even like Barbie," she adds, folding her arms somewhat defensively.
She rolls her eyes and tosses her hair a little when she sees Femtite's heavy blushing. "Okay, I may have an uncle who bought me two or three, but they were like, the vintage kind? Sixties and seventies outfits, that sort of thing."
Skyler's eyes narrow as she tries to keep up with Femtite's speaking pattern. Then they widen in shock at the request. "Wait, you think I'd have Barbie dolls here at school? Umm, no. I didn't even like Barbie," she adds, folding her arms somewhat defensively.
She rolls her eyes and tosses her hair a little when she sees Femtite's heavy blushing. "Okay, I may have an uncle who bought me two or three, but they were like, the vintage kind? Sixties and seventies outfits, that sort of thing."
She was hoping Skyler might have some dolls at home.
“Oh, I love 20th Century fashion! Sooooo… how about I give you a ride home, and maybe I can borrow the dolls? Um… just for while my Love Bug, The’s getting the scuffs touched up?
“I mean… unless that would ruin the decoration motif in your bedroom.” She grins innocently. “I totally mean it, Skyler—I can do without the dolls if you’re worried they’ll get ruined or something.”
Skyler hems, glancing from side to side. "Um, I stay here in the dorms. And they're probably stored away in a box or something. It'd take forever to find them."
She shifts back and forth on her feet, rubbing her shoulders and looking uncomfortable. Then she lights up. "Oh! Gimme a sec," she says and she starts looking around at the passing students. She spins around for a moment as she focuses on them, and then points at a heavy-set boy with thick glasses and unkempt hair. "He's got a doll collection here at school. Well, probably."
Femtite gushes over Skyler. “Your powers of perception are awesome! If my mother lets me, I have a way you can really test your limits. Don’t make plans for Saturday, ‘kay?”
To the boy who likes dolls, “HI, hiiii! I’m Femtite. I’m trying to learn what humans collect, even boys. They don’t have males on my planet…”
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Percy's head hit the table with a dull thud and a stifled hiss, some of the classmates turning to look at him rubbing his eyebrow. "Don't worry... elbow slipped." He lied wishing Feya had once again given him just a moment to prepare to halt himself from the fall.
With that sent, Percy quickly made his way to his dorm room and started cruising through the assignments. Glad to have at least one day off from the hero class already after what had happened it was nice getting back to the regular for a bit. Calc, was pretty easy and helped alot with the equation crafting if so many spells he almost wondered if the tribunal had secretly started teaching people ages ago in order to try and sus-out would-be mages. Or maybe Pythagoras really was one of the fabled mages of old, when magic was still fresh as honey and the world wild with chimeric creations of man's own unbridled will.
The whole idea got him thinking as he signed off on the final sheet of the work he had been assigned with an hour to spare before he had to leave for his meet-up with Feya. Grabbing his things he sat down and decided to start concocting a new spell. Based off one shown in the book for summoning creatures of the mind.
He followed the intricate shaping techniques and found a way to shorten them down for much simpler and less long-lived effects a pinch of sulfur here, a drop of Basalisk venom there. Good thing Alberta the Goblin kept her stocks pretty full he'd have to drop by on his way. So with half an hour till he'd have to leave he packed his things and headed down to Hector's spending a bit of time chatting with the old timer before buying an unassuming yew stick, yet to be enchanted but a great base of a gift for Connie.
Percy continued to the train station and caught a ride to Picard Avenue and walked the rest of the way to the Starbucks on Hamilton where he got a nice chai-tea with a few pinches of mint leaf. Always helped put his mind at ease. After that he made his way down to the meeting place with Feya with plenty of time to spare. He set his things out and sipped at the tea , lifting a hand and watching as his entire ensemble animated and started flowing onto him. Nice quick attire change, all without a break in his tea-time. He went to sip one last time before his belt since just a bit too tight and he groaned pulling at it and returning it to a much more comfortable position.
Connie's lip compressed to a thin line. “I get it. Not the whole scale of it, but a tall monster who could make another uncaring decision at any moment that could incidentally destroy your whole life? Yeah, I get it.” She picked up the pillow, fluffed it and put it back at the head of the bed for something to do.
“You know I'll help keep Nanometeor safe right? Not just for you or anything, a whole world of people? Of course I'll protect that.”
***
“I'm almost positive this is both our rooftop, but if they want to avoid fleas in the dorms, I get it.”
But she went anyways. A fuzzy hotel-bathrobe and slippers over a tanktop and sleep shorts didn't leave her a lot of space for gear, but the single pocket in the robe did have a visible bulge. “Okay my dude, say what you need to say.”
Over the next couple of days, Max settles into the routine at the academy. She applies herself to her classes and does her best to keep her head down outside of them. She has been feeling a bit more relaxed and comfortable lately, though, largely thanks to Caio's efforts to make her feel more like a normal teenager instead of a freak.
One thing that starts to bug her, though, is how little she knows about Horizon. The team leader has been all business in their previous interactions, and while he seems to have a good head on his shoulders, Max wonders at his true motives, especially in the wake of the Guardians' mysterious falling out.
In between classes, Max tries to shadow Shin and watch him from afar, attempting to glean insight into what makes him tick...
Femtite nods at Connie’s assurance.
“Um… besides meeting my mother, I also need to take Love Bug, The to Mel. You cannot possibly perceive her, but she’s super smart! She can fix my craft—good as new!
“But… it’s a feature in my craft that allows me to dress my flesh form. So… while you sneak me to and fro, I will lose my means of clothing myself. There might be a boy at school with a Barbie doll collection, here in the dorms. But he is nerdy, as are you.” Femtite grins. “A compliment, I assure you, from one need to another.”
Her posture is completely confident as she says this. She catches herself going off-topic, so getting to the point—
“If you happen to have the kind of doll whose clothing can be removed and lent to me, I could slip into your bag and dress myself. I could be a living Barbie.”
Love Bug, The plays a tune. (Femtite waits to see how Connie reacts before deciding to stop the music or let it play.)