Shin was torn up. Every part of him hurt, from his ribs to the strange ache after seeing Femtite quicker on the draw to rescue Conflux. But looking down at the field where Grace and Max were battling it out, he realized he had divided his focus too much.
"That is very bad," He says around bloodied lips, looking at the hellion that Max has become. He needs to do something to try and stop her. Any plan falters in his head as he sees the attack coming at Percy. He flies down, going to protect Indarius!
He's not going to be able to stop them with his powers. The physical barbs are flying too fast. But his mentor was Whippoorwill, and he would not be defied in the skies as he interjected his body between Percy and the projectiles as they sunk into his body.
"It's up to you," Shin tells Percy with a bloodied smile as he starts to fall...
Femtite grabs a hold of Connie and says, ”Hang onto me, Sweetie. I gotta get close to DD, see if I can calm her…”
The Pixite uses a feature that lets her unleash her powers through Love Bug, The. ”I never use this feature… fair warning.”
The Bug takes on a new shape with sunbright runes covering its solidly amethyst hull. With grappler arms, the ship scoops up Shin! Fem starts to back away from Gigamax!
|
There was a moment while he had turned his attention to aid Horizon that he left himself open to Diva. Having not seen the magic still swirling about her and transforming her into a true devil for a time he was blissfully unaware of the speeding quills until the last moment. They came into his focus already halfway to him, nowhere near enough time for him to throw up a proper barrier after he'd expended himself like he had tonight.
Not that he could think of that as his brain reeled between defense, screaming for Devil Diva, screaming for Max, or requesting assistance would he really have to fight the woman he went to the dance with, his friend. He didn't want to hurt her and the series of thoughts left him paralyzed in indecisiveness. That is until Horizon dove from the sky at the last second and body blocked him from the attack with a sickening squelch.
The mage fell backwards and then scrambled forward to Horizon as he spoke. He fumbled over Shin's body for a moment, "No s!%~ no no.. stay with me." For a moment his anger from before which had subsided turned to a very human fear and then, boiling rage.
He looked up to see the dreadful smile of the devil hiding in Max's body and gritted his teeth. Grabbing his staff, standing and stepping over Horizon once again putting himself between the threat and his ally he calmly keyed his communicator. "Femtite, Horizon is down, get him to the hospital. I'll handle Max, no questions."
Stepping towards the Demon defiant against it's approach. "Alright s~!&lord. You wanna take over my friends, hurt people, and cause a f+!@ing commotion. Gloves off then a&~&@@* let's f@%+in dance!"
He slammed his staff into the bleachers causing the nearby ones to splinter and freeze before he tilted his scepter holding his hand up towards the end and channeled a powerful spell intending to temporarily rip the devil out of Max so he could personally beat it's ass.
Connie squirmed, trying to just find herself a nice spot on the ceiling instead of having to add 'whatever Femms's hands were doing' to the list of forces in need of balance, when suddenly Percy made his big move.
Oh!
"Excellent. Observational data of Violet, which should hopefully not be seen exclusively through Max's lens. This could be what we need to pursue long-term solutions! And it's easier to hit her without worrying about breaking her."
"One of the students that took your drugs became a cat-woman, but instead of hiding herself she has joined our team and is helping people. Do you think people will see her as a menace?" He asks, seriously. "Perhaps there is little hope for a cure for her as well, and she'll for sure never be considered normal... do you see some similarities?" He asks her, smirking.
"If you want to shift sides, I could help you. But you need to want it."
Femtite flies in and scoops up the broken and bleeding body of Horizon away, before he can be savaged by his bestial teammates.
Indarius, meanwhile, sees an opportunity. Whatever Lua's spell did, it supercharged the demonic powers of Max, warping her form into something truly inhuman. He calls forth his incredible powers as he faces off with the hellbeast that was Max.
Manipulating the remaining miasma still lingering in the air, Indarius uses its nature to seek out anything savage and bestial to cling only to the demonic form and rip that away from the mortal that used to be Max Lopez.
It's extremely unpleasant.
With a tearing scream, the hellbeast warps and convulses as a small blob of protoplasm is drawn out. It lands with a wet splorch upon the torn-up field and resolves itself into a gaunt, shivering being. Its features are pale and androgynous, and vestigial organs visible through pallid skin laboriously work to sustain its life.
The bestial demon, meanwhile, thrashes and moans incoherently and under the mindless rage of Lua's spell. Indarius's hope to have a confrontation with Violet the demon is immediately dashed -- there's no sinister mind driving it! Without Lua's spell charging it into an unthinking frenzy, it would be nothing!
Conflux climbs around Love Bug, The's cabin to get a better view before Femtite rockets away to take Horizon to a hospital. Her observations are similar to Indarius' -- that there doesn't seem to be a real mind inside the demon at this point! She does see that whatever was pulled out of the demon -- Max -- is weak and will likely perish in a few moments if left untended!
She doesn't look convinced. "Is that you're only idea? No one will trust me! I show myself, and I'll be captured. I'm a supervillain, with the name of a dog, that's not going to ever be accepted. You might as well be offering me a collar and a leash."
Femtite clicks the remote control, hoping its high frequency signal will keep Grace from doing something terrible.
As for Max… I can’t save DD and Shin. That’s why we’re a team.
”Connie, I gotta get Shin outta here.”
Unless Connie says to do otherwise, Fem speeds to the hospital!
"Even if we do not like to admit it, Halcyon is too big for capes to protect it, and you know it. Watch the news and you'll see that the number of muggings, murders, and rapes that still happen every week is horrifying... So you hide in the dark, listen and watch... When people are in danger, you help them, even if they will scream and be more afraid of you than of the criminal."
He looks at her, trying to reassure what he is saying is possible. "With time people will notice that the streets are safer thanks to the monster that is stalking criminals and then the story will change from monster to protector. I can help you with this."
From the miasma of Lua’s effect is a low, menacing growl. A pair of yellow eyes precedes the exit of a much more primal looking Grace than before, one which lacks any semblance of humanity in its eyes!
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Indarius watches as his spell rips the mass from the demonic form and he focuses on the Violet half of the equation which quickly becomes a mass of thrashing claws and fangs. And the mass on the ground is whatever hasn't been consumed of Max. The boiling rage in him continues and is quickly joined by revulsion. He turned back to the Violet half and ground his teeth. "You can't survive without one another now... not like this know that the only reason I'm not beating you into a bloody pulp is because my friend would die too."
He had to resist the urge to throw the devil across the arena at least a few times and work on not only putting the two back together, but also dispelling Lua's hex.
"Lua used gravity to tie me to the big wolf, so the farther away I get from it, the weaker that gets... Got it. Femms, I need you to just whip me out of Love Bug as fast as you can. Then go save Shin."
***
"HHhhhhh!" **Thump**
Energy flares around Connie as she and her wards gouge a landing strip into the 40-yard line. Coming to her feet with a low-G bounce, she glides over to Max's distilled demonic demi-soul with a sample kit modified with carefully modulated anti-infernal wards. Enough to contain, not enough to cleanse.
With a roar, Grace lunges at Indarius! She lands atop him, her teeth snapping inches from his face as she tries to bear him to the ground!
Femtite rockets off with the unconscious Horizon while Conflux bails out to learn more about the nature of Max.
Before Indarius puts the two halves back together, Conflux gathers some esoteric samples of the demonic entity. Possibly the most disturbing thing that the two learn during Indarius's magical effect is that there does not appear to be a separate "Violet" consciousness driving the demonic form! The nearly insubstantial entity that was separated and seems to be Max is not enough to exist separate from the demon.
While the pair of magic users are focusing on Devil Diva, they don't notice that Grace has lost control of herself! Still under the effects of Lua's final spell, she lunges at Indarius!
Terrier hugs herself tight. "You don't understand! I don't want that life! I can't be alone! It might be the mutation controlling, but I need a pack! I might as well be caged if you think I'm going to live like some sort of solitary hunter of criminals!"
She glares at him, heated but not hostile. "You took my family from me. They might have deserved it; hell, I probably deserve it. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm not meant to be alone! Tell me truthfully: would you be able to operate alone? Wolf?"
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The very complex spell is most of the way through when Indy gets tackled by Grace he yells out. "AF-!" His body fights against his natural instinct to flee for a moment but he has to focus on the spell otherwise Max might be lost forever. He puts his arm between him and Grace's jaws providing a much better object for attack than his throat. Thankfully it was enough to keep her from ripping out his throat, though her feline fangs and strength tore through the fabric of his robes and into the soft flesh beneath he powered through and kept concentration in putting Max back together.
"Con! HELP!"
Weaving two souls back together was much more difficult than ripping them apart. While also unraveling another spellcaster's hex. While also being torn into by your teammate turned werecat. While ALSO making sure you didn't kill anyone in the process. Indarius lamented that he'd likely have to wear a cast and try to explain it to his fellow students, but he could do this. He was better than this pain, he had to be.
Hell why not add unweaving a second spell to his attempts after all he Is the greatest mage
Reeling from the attack but only receiving superficial wounds, Indarius counters with another surge of magic power -- this time directed at Grace. The magical effect infecting her is almost trivial compared with separating Max from the demon. He draws off the miasma, watching her body return to its normal -- yet still feline -- state.
With the infectious essence siphoned off of both Max and Grace, Indarius realizes he is holding Lua's power over beasts! Her last act was to tip the scales, cause allies to go feral while she recovers -- but if this power isn't returned to her, Lua will lose her authority over werewolves for good!
The only problem is, it has to go somewhere -- or into someone!!
What do you do??
The double doors of the hospital hall swing open, knocking a stack of bedpans to the floor with a clatter and some spatter!
Femtite flies through pushing her Bug—shrunken to about five feet long (seats reclined in Bed Mode)—with Horizon sprawled and bleeding all over.
She is clad in her candy-strip(p)er outfit shouting, ”Emergency! Dying hero! Clear the way—not you, Doc—take me to your healing facility!
“And I don’t wanna hear any more crap about ‘insurance cards!’ Do we card you to ENNNSURRRE we’ll stop bad-guys?! Don’t make me tell Whippoorwill on you!!!”
Max groans as consciousness returns to her. She's not sure what has happened--she remembers wailing on Lua, then a red haze overtook her mind, followed by excruciating pain. She draws a ragged breath and rolls over to see Conflux, Grace, and Indarius nearby.
"What happened? Did we win?" she asks, her voice weak.
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Indarius, lays pinned between Grace and the earth one arm bleeding but quickly frosting over to keep his precious blood inside. Medically unsafe, but who knows when you grow scales and fart Icestorms. He wore a pained face as he contained Lua's spellwork in his free hand.
"Grace comeon, I know you're still in there please stop trying to kill me." He spoke low enough that only she'd be able to hear him in their close proximity.
"Con, I've got Lua's powers contained, they can't get back to her, they need to go somewhere though, Quick."
"Don't call me Con. Okay - that power has a corrosive effect on Deedee and Catra's minds- possibly Lua's? No baseline to compare with yet -so they're out as hosts, ditto other targets who are high risk due to potentially misused power level or emotional instability..."
She looks down at her precisely warded samples of Max's demonic essence. "S!#~. I don't have anything else already prepped to contain that quality of mojo..."
Pulling out a sharpie, a pocket-knife, and a blank dowel, she starts trying to make something suitable without giving up her best chance to help Max. Or help stop her.
Focused on her work, she doesn't even flicker her gaze up to Percy as she asks. "How long can you hold it?"
Grace comes back to herself just as Max does, but both are rather disoriented from their experiences.
Meanwhile, Conflux works on spot-crafting a suitable containment vessel for Lua's power. Having used all her most useful tools during the fight and to store samples of Max's demonic essence, what's left is painfully insufficient.
Having been given the all-clear and that Lua was defeated, Caio shows up to the ruins of the football field. He had passed the Crimefighters, who were busy escorting the confused athletes of Franklin High back to their homes.
Slinking in the shadows nearby is Terrier, and Lua's werewolf minion is on the ground, unconscious from the encounter with Femtite's sun and the fall once Conflux's antigravity spell wore off.
Indarius, you have only a few more moments of containment of the beastmaster spirit! You've got to choose a vessel, and soon!
What do you do??
A couple weeks ago Caio would have answered yes, since he did spend most of his time alone. He had Max and some other friends, but they were not aware of his curse. "If I have the choice, no, I'd rather not be alone ever. The Wolf is a bit more complicated, for while he does like the idea of having a pack, he isn't really happy unless he is the alpha, and he'd rather be a lone wolf than a member of a weak pack."
Caio wonders if the Corps could somewhat "adopt" Terrier, be he decides that he can't shove her towards them, since it was the same as him shoving his problems towards them. "I'll do it with you then. We'll patrol and fight criminals together. I know this is far from a pack and it will not substitute your family, but I think it is better than your alternative."
Caio takes a look around the football field, glad that Lua and the other werewolves are down, but he quickly notices the absence of Horizon and Femtite, as well as the poor state of Max and Grace. He rushes for them. "Are you alright? Where is Horizon and Fems?"
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Indarius wrestles with the power while the others recover and Conflux tries to fashion a vessel to hold it. But he can already feel his tenuous grasp slipping while she scrambles for parts. There is an obvious strain from him as the powerful 'voice' in his hand pushes against his will.
His gaze flicks between the various women around and finds himself falling on Grace. "You still wanna be a hero G?"
Grace staggers to her feet, clutching her head as she groans ”Mmmm…hmmmmm?”
She legitimately hadn’t understood what Indarius had said, but her reply could easily have been misconstrued as an affirmative “Uh huh.”
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With that affirmation Indy focuses the energy towards Grace. Scared that she'd be overwhelmed by it, but honestly if he had to play hot potato with this energy then he'd do it until they had a proper vessel to store it away.
Turning his good hand holding the energy towards her it burst forth like a stream, erupting towards her.
Grace gasps and falls to her knees as her head drops back and her back arches hard as the power forces itself into her soul! It was a pain unlike anything she had ever felt, like her very being was being ripped apart, rearranged, and then put back together again!
She couldn’t register her own scream, but it was loud enough to be heard from many blocks away!
Femtite waits patiently for whatever Earth medical stuff has to happen.
Once she gets the okay to visit, she enters the hospital room. She is still dressed in her candy-striper outfit, which is designed to wow Connie and does not make her blend in with nursing staff at all.
Not even in Canada.
Shin is wrapped up in a lot of bandages, his armor in pieces next to the bed, and he's currently trying to reach for his communicator that is just barely out of his ability to grab without getting out of the bed.
"...Oh. Hey can you pass that comm to me? I need to give a status update to Whippoorwill. Which also means checking in on how the fight went. I assume since you're here everything is settled?"
She doesn’t hand over the comm.
”Everyone came out of the fight in better shape than you. Can the report wait?”
Fem obviously wants to talk.
”You could’ve been killed. Maybe just turn off Hero-Sidekick Mode and… are you even okay to talk right now?”
"Oh, I got some great painkillers, they're helping a lot to relieve the symptoms. It's my own fault for forgetting about the silver vulnerability right off the bat. I really would have liked it to have gone down peacefully." He's inching himself along the bed, the tip of his finger managing to brush his comm briefly.
Femtite grabs the comm.
”Not under the influence of Really Great Painkillers,” she says, thinking quickly.
”But if you are okay to talk… let’s.”
Awkward pause.
”Talk, I mean. You and me.”
"I should have expected that those two would be vulnerable to the same power that influenced the wolf," Shin says as he grasps the open air where the comms had been prior to Femtite pulling it away. He blinks slowly, turning to look at her. She can see that he's thinking clearly, but slowly. "...I'm fine. Really. I've been in much worse shape than this and gotten better. Though I have to watch how many days I miss from school and classes if I don't want to repeat a year..."
He shifts and sits up slowly. "...where's the rest of the team? Is Connie okay? Grace, Diva, Indy, Wolf?"
”They’re fine. The only one I’m worried about is you.”
She sits on the edge of the bed. ”You get that I’m a princess, right? That I’ve been bred to lead, not follow.
“But has it ever occurred to you that I’m the ONLY one on the team who hasn’t challenged your authority? It’s because you always put the team’s needs ahead of your own. You really are the best person to lead us.”
Looking hurt, she adds, ”So what was with… that look?”
HER look says, you know exactly what I mean.
He looks at her carefully, trying to understand where she was going with this. In the moment, the details were fuzzy with him about that moment. But he thought that he figured it out, after a few moments to formulate the words.
"I wanted to protect her. I know you could have done it, that I could have focused on something else. I wanted to save Connie." He looks a little confused as he's saying the words, as it doesn't feel like it's fully adding up for him. He's missing a variable in the equation.
"So I guess that look was probably...jealousy? That you were probably going to get there before me. Maybe some hurt pride. I'm Whippoorwill's student, I should be more capable in the air. I blame that on the cracked rib from the wolf," He says. "It should be fine, just a couple days to recuperate. I only had nine spines extracted and none of them pierced a vital organ."
The way Femtite’s shoulders sink suggests she’s not so naïve.
”It looked like another kind of jealousy. So I’m going to say this… because I can’t compete with an Earthling over an Earthling.
“When I was already infatuated with Connie, DD mentioned her attraction to me. I just smiled, took the compliment.. but I had a feeling DD wouldn’t stick to one partner.
“It’s perfectly normal on the Nanometeor. And whatever is happening with you and Grace and DD, if you’re happy… I’m glad that’s working out.
“But I want no part of that.”
Femtite holds up her palm. Fire appears.
”I don’t bleed like you. Physically, I’m a human-girl-shaped bag of fire. I can hospitalize a human with a kiss. I won’t get into all of the barriers that make our relationship a lot of work, but Connie’s worth the effort.”
She has more to say, but it’s awkward and accusatory, and there is a naïve part of her that hopes she’s wrong…
"Well...yeah, and I'm supportive of that relationship. I've told Connie as such before. I'm not going to come between the two of you," He tells Femtite. "I am in a relationship with Grace who also has a relationship with Diva. I don't have any aims to disrupt that. Connie is my friend and I want her to be happy."
His hand twitches, eyes looking at his comm in Femtite's hand. "I really should call Whippoorwill soon. There's protocols in place for heroes who end up hospitalized but I don't think I'll be here for more than a couple days. You can tell the rest of the team that my injuries looked worse than they really were. Oh, did the Crimefighters take Lua into custody or has the team done that? I know Connie is a little trigger happy with her trashcan..."
Femtite is relived at the assurance, but the gotta-talk-to-Whip is strange to her.
”I believe you. And Connie introduced the word ‘exclusivity’ to me. I trust her.
“But even if you wouldn’t go through with it, I’m not blind to the look and what it meant. And I’m not mad at you. I’m worried.”
Femtite drops Shin’s comm in her shrunken Love Bug, The and slips her Bug in her glowing hair, where it can no longer be seen.
”You were definitely thinking about Connie in a different way. Why? Isn’t everything all good with Grace?
“I’m asking as a friend—please stop trying to change the subject.”
How can I get you to to talk to me as a friend, not a jealous lover?
"...It's not relevant." Shin tells her, truthful as it is to him. "I have already made my commitments. If anything could have happened, the opportunities have passed both of us by a long time ago," He says to Femtite. He scratches lightly over one of the bandages wrapped across his upper arm.
"...Though, if we're being honest. No, things are harder with Grace right now. I'm doing my best to works things out. But Max seems to have everything settled, so she doesn't need my help."
Femtite believes this answer to be honest.
”Without getting into Pixite physiology, unless you want to know… I basically have two mothers. One who gave birth to me, and the other who fertilized the egg.
“The Queen is my birth mother. She has a harem of 23 pixites. Mel helped conceive me, and to my knowledge, she has only ever been with my mom the queen.
“Even in a world where poly is the norm, it’s hurtful to those who wanted to commit as a couple.”
Femtite places her hand on Shin’s. ”I’m not worried you’d get between Connie and me. Because you know it would cause pain.
“Talk to me, Shin. The conversation won’t leave this room.”
"...not going to lie, other than the whole monogendered species capable of sexual reproduction, your society doesn't sound dissimilar to other high nobility in old earth nations practicing polygamy."
The look on his face shifts in the way he gets while analyzing something and finding a question. But he elects to avoid speaking on it for now.
"...I'm still in love with Psyche. From my old team." He tells Femtite. "And I don't know if we ever broke up before she disappeared. I miss her. Grace...I like Grace. She's amazing and fun in a different way, bold and physical."
He looks away from Femtite. "Connie is the smartest person I've ever met. Every conversation with her feels like a challenge. But she comes to me for counsel as much as I seek hers out. I think I wouldn't be nearly as effective leading this team without her."
”Ooookaaay… a lot to unpack here. Three ladies, all different. But what do they have in common?”
Hopefully his answer is not ‘being in a throuple with me.’
"I'd say 'being immediately available as part of a team rubbing elbows together', but that's a joke," Shin tells Fem. "Really, I think that it's that they all helped me and I wanted to help them in return. And that I would gladly do it unrequited, because I care so much I can't analyze it without breaking."
”Okay. Now granted, I don’t have ex-girlfriends so… I might be wrong about this. But bear with me ‘cause I want to be helpful.
“You mentioned your ex-girlfriend and my girlfriend in the same breath as you mentioned Grace… and she’s the one you had the least to say about.
“You say Max gives her what she needs. Forget ‘in-return’ and ‘gladly unrequited’ for just a moment.
“What do YOU want?”
Shin is silent.
It's actually unsettling just how quiet he's being in this instance. He scratches his bandage and there's a start of a bloom of blood coming through the gauze.
"...How do you know your parent Mel has always been faithful to only the queen? It's an incredibly unusual situation for one of your civilization as you tell it. Frankly unbelievable. Almost like propaganda to lay claim to the heir."
The accusation comes out sternly, voicing his thoughts on information from before in a manner to get a rise out of Femtite.
”She’s my Mom. We talk. She hurts. And I called her ‘Mom’ because Connie said I should and she was right.”
Femtite pulls Shin’s comm out of her hair. She drops it on the bed where Shin can easily reach it.
”Yes, Connie’s smart. And I’m obviously an idiot. I catch you entertaining the thought of stepping out with my girlfriend, my response is to help you with your completely-obvious issue, and what do I get—YOU insulting my family!
“And I literally just told you the dirt. Why would you make up new dirt when you could have used the existing dirt, which is actually more insulting than your fake dirt because it’s real dirt?! The truth hurts more!
“Case in point—Grace moved on! And rescuing Connie from her fire-breathing girlfriend isn’t the answer, so sorry, Romeo, but your princess is in another castle!”
With a humph, Femtite becomes a spark and becomes nothing.
Shin meets Fem's eyes before she blinks away. There's sorrow there for having to push her away - and a determination to not answer her last question to him. Enough to lash out at someone who wants to support him.
But what she doesn't see is falsehood. Shin won't answer, because he won't lie to Femtite. And then his face vanishes as she does, leaving the room in silence.
Femtite sends a text to Connie a couple hours after the battle.
☀️: HI-hiiiiiiii!!
☀️: I need a break from Earth.
☀️: Wanna come to the Nanometeor?
"Oh what the hell, Indy?! What did I just say about corrosive effects?!"
Grace feels a similar warping change to her body and mind like when she entered the miasma. This time, though, instead of something that was being done to her, the warping power was being gifted to her.
After the initial shock, the power settles around her heart like a mantle. It is both heavy and buoyant. She knows instinctively, if she wanted to tap into it she could become large, feral, and nearly unstoppable. She could reach out to the cats and catlike beings around her and call them to her aid.
"Still. Top-two worst option right there."
Max sighs when Caio approaches. Though badly hurt, she manages a smile. "I'm fine. You should see the other guy. We did it, Caio. We beat Lua..."
Relief turns to worry when Indarius does something to Grace! As the catgirl screams, Max limps to her side and pulls her into a tight embrace. "Grace, it's okay! You're okay! I'm here. I'm here for you."
Grace slumps forward and down to her hands and knees as her chest heaves from her heavy breaths. She stares at the ground, wide eyed and in shock. However, her shocked expression slowly changes as an unsettling grin comes over her face. Followed by a laugh.
”Yeah…yeah I’m fine,” she replies, the confidence in her voice undeniable.
"Are you sure? Indarius just put all of Lua's power into you... That's a lot for anybody to handle all at once," Max says. She gives Indarius a look, then turns back to Grace, looking her over to make sure she isn't hurt.
Once she's sure Grace is okay, Max gives her a gentle kiss on the lips. "That was a rough fight. I'm glad you made it through in mostly one piece."
Grace stands slowly and looks over at Max and replies ”Oh yeah, I’m fine,” with a toothy smile.
When max steps in for a kiss, Grace hooks an arm behind her waist and holds her there, making the kiss more passionate than Max had initially intended! She licks Max’s upper lip as they separate and says ”You too,” with a wink.
She turns back to Indarius and says ”Thanks for that! What a rush!”
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Purposefully avoiding looking iver to Conflux, Indy pushes himself up. Guilt filled his eyes, "Yeah just... please don't make me have to take it back. Diva, you back with us and... feeling okay?"
Finally registering Caio, despite him not saying anything targeted to himself, suppose I earned that. "We're good."
Grace looks around and asks ”Where’s Horizon?”
Max eagerly returns the kiss. She grins at Grace when it finally ends. "Awesome," she breathes. Then she gives Indarius a thumbs up.
Her hand never leaving Max’s hip, Grace says ”You were great there, by the way! You and me gave her a run for her money there! She just couldn’t keep up with both of us!”
The altercation at the Franklin High football field ends with the usual authorities arriving and beginning the cleanup. Lua and her werewolf minion are detained, with the promise that they'll be deported -- hopefully before the full moon.
Caio realizes that Terrier is gone again, having slipped away into the night. But he thinks he's given her a new direction although she has a long road of redemption to walk.
==============================
At the end of every session, choose one:
• Grow closer to the team. Explain
who made you feel welcome; give
Influence to that character and clear
a condition or mark potential.
• Grow into your own image of yourself.
Explain how you see yourself and why;
shift one Label up and another down.
• Grow away from the team. Explain why
you feel detached. Take Influence over
you away from another character.
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Try to open up, even go so far as to point out flaws in the Lavender Spire, and BAMF! your mom’s compared to King Hitler the Eighth and your other mom’s unrequited fidelity is a tabloid scandal…!
As Connie and the others are wrapping up whatever they won’t explain to the weird alien anyway, so why bother asking, Femtite is stewing in her Bug. She doesn’t even have a particularly hot outfit to wow Connie. She’ll wear her regular plaid skirt and sweater vest, with imitation Chucks and mismatched socks.
And… a smile. For Connie.
But she isn’t going to waste her face muscles smiling now, sitting by herself in her shrunken craft.
A curious fly taps at Love Bug, The with its proboscis.
”BUZZ OFF!!”
Femtite pounds in the Hadouken command and fireballs the fly to a crisp.
Max blushes at Grace showers her with praise. "Thanks. We make a good team, the two of us. I'm sure it's much different fighting without the Steel Guardian suit, but you didn't miss a beat!"
Shin sat in the aftermath of his foolishness with the comm in his lap. He could feel things aching again, which meant that the painkillers were probably starting to wear off. He had tried to press the button by the bed to start another drip, but he supposed he'd maxed out on it all and now had to deal with the slow bloom of agony. It was nothing he didn't deserve.
He still had a job to do.
Cueing up the team channel, he spoke to everyone on voice only, doing his best to disguise his fatigue. "Checking in to let you all know I'm physically stable. Thankfully the hit that knocked me out was taken mostly by my armor. I should be back up shortly. Make sure to detain Lua and whatever wolves she has left in a way she can't use her powers. I have to check in with Whippoorwill. Don't worry about me and I'll see everyone later, all right?"
He lingers on the channel for a moment to see if Femtite might speak up and fully ruin his credibility with the team. He wouldn't blame her if she did after what he'd said.
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Seeing that Max and Grace were intwined in their own little lover's moment Indarius cradles the arm that Grace had bit and remarks that it barely stung already, frankly it didn't hurt at all perhaps his brain just registered a phantom pain to get him to act. Running his hand gently under his sleeve he felt no puncturing of flesh, instead feeling another handful of tender scales. He quickly recoiled from his own inspection and grabbed his staff, marching over to Connie and presumably Caio to explain himself.
"Sorry Caio, things got a bit heated for a bit. Lua tried one final assault, gained control of DD and SG. DD went devil trigger and flung spines at me which Horizon caught, I had Fems rush him to the hospital he was in bad shape."
His gaze turned from Caio for a moment to Conflux and he grew quiet not enough to be unheard in the empty field but certainly a bit ashamed. "And then I... uh.. sort of lost myself a bit an tried to show just Violet a piece of my mind. He gulped unable to say the words himself, "But anyway she's put back together and not any worse for the wear, we have an honest sample of pure devil which should help get her apart the correct way. While I was weaving the two halves back together SG pounced on me and I had to remove and distill Lua's hex, she was a witchwolf by the way probably why she could control you. Thanks to Conflux's charm though the magic couldn't return to the host... so it had to go somewhere." He looks back to the pair kissing on the field.
"Anything else I missed Conflux?"
After a bit of chatter while the authorities are cleaning up Indarius approaches Grace and presumably Max, "Hey, so that sort of sucked, the whole tackling me thing, luckily my magic took the brunt of it." The young mage deftly lied, feigning a bit of pain as he touched the arm. "What did she call you in that whole confrontation? Nighthunter? That could be your knew name, you certainly have claws sharp enough for it. But... I don't think we wanna get hit by any copyright from Lexington press for stealing the name, how about... Sharpclaw, NightBite, no wait... Nightclaw? I dunno maybe i'm just being dumb about the hero naming thing. Gonna go check on Lua once they get her set up and allow visitors, you two got any plans?" He had ideas but wasn't going to speak them outloud to the two girls.
"Nightclaw. It has a nice ring to it," Max agrees.
"We're going to check on Horizon at the hospital. Let me know when you're going to talk to Lua and I'll go with you. For protection, if nothing else."
Leaving Max and Grace on their own, Caio joins Connie and Percy. He wasn't surprised of how bad the situation got, since he knew Lua was very dangerous, but he is immensely relieved that she is dealt with and that none of his friends died in the process.
"I've told you she was a Howler." He mentions. "You did what you needed to do, Indarius. The consequences of this for Grace are on me, not you." He says, seriously. "I owe you all one big."
Caio then covers his face for a moment before looking up and yelling, his eyes wet with tears. "PORRA! EU TO LIVRE!" He then laughs and sits on the ground, not yet registering that Terrier has gone.
"See, I would frame it as: 'Thanks to Connie's ward, Lua wasn't able to take back her power, and I completely ignored her advice about where to put it,' but to each their own."
The sharpness fades from her glare though as she gives Caio a big wordless hug. "You did it big guy."
"I can't believe we did it." He replies to Connie and he returns the hug.
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"Okay yeah fair I didn't heed your advice. But where was I gonna put it? Did you wanna be juiced up? I really don't want more powers to keep track of. There weren't exactly a lot of options that we can reliably keep track of and I would rather not make the entire stadium a haunt, or let it go wild in some random person. I did the best I could." He walks away from Connie and Caio clearly she didn't want to actually celebrate their victory with him, seeing that Max and Grace were busy as well he just walked off the field and started on his walk home. Along the way he rolled up his sleeve and examined the scales with a cringe before willing a spell up and flew away.
He touched down several minutes later on the corner of Hamilton Boulevard where he walked over to the Boulder that marked the Unseelie court. He sat down there for a time contemplating the very long day.
Before Shin can leave the hospital, two more visitors arrive. Grace and Max enter the room together.
There's an open window in the hospital room letting in the night air. Horizon has donned his armor again, hastily patched with quick-hardening foam over where it had been pierced. The edges of bandages still peek out around his collar, and he's got one foot on the windowsill when the door opens. He turns to look back at Grace and Max in surprise.
"Oh...I was just about to leave. When there's an event like tonight's there is bound to be those trying to take advantage. Police scanner picked up some looters in Old Town, I thought I could assist to thank the Crimefighters."
Max frowns and steps forward. "Horizon, you are in no condition for patrolling right now! Your spirit may be strong, but your body needs to rest and recover."
She looks at the bandages and patched armor, feeling a pang of guilt in her chest. "Indarius told me what happened. That I... I did this to you. I'm sorry. I lost control of myself. How can I make it up to you?"
Grace runs to Shins side and fumes ”Are you crazy!?!? Get the Hell back in that bed right now!”
"I will be fine," He tells them both. "You didn't hit anything vital. I managed to avoid the worst case. Really, I just need time by myself. My body will right itself in a couple days."
Grace grabs his arm, her grip tighter than he likely anticipated. ”You either go back to bed willingly, or I am putting you there!” she says, her voice having an underlying growl in its tone.
Max tries a gentler approach. "You really do need to rest, Shin, no matter how stubborn you might be. You could be doing irreparable harm to your body if you don't let it heal properly. I know how much being a hero means to you, but you won't be able to be one if you are permanently crippled. So rest. Relax. Take care of yourself, please."
"I understand your concern, but I've taken much worse hits in the past. I know my body's limitations and this is something that I don't need to stay in a bed to recover from," He tells them with a soft smile. He flies out through the window and gets distance from the non-fliers. "Sorry, but duty calls and I can't be idle when there's so much more to do!"
Max sighs and shakes her head. She looks at Grace, hoping she might be able to save Shin from his own stupidity.
Grace snarls at him and shouts ”Fine! Be that way you thick headed prick!” before turning and walking back through the hospital for the NORMAL exit.
Max follows Grace out. ”He’s never going to change,” she mutters.
”Well, we tried, at least. Should we head to my room at the base? We can take some time to, um, properly celebrate our win today.” Max raises her eyebrows suggestively.
Grace smirks and takes Maxes hand as they walk out.
The heroes receive permission to speak to Lua. She's in one of Halcyon's heavily reinforced detainment cells while she is awaiting processing and deportation.
The small woman is in an unflattering jump suit, pacing back and forth in the tiny cell that is completely bare. The only light comes from the reinforced glass partition; the rest of the cell is industrial steel.
She stops her pacing when the heroes come into view. Her golden eyes regard everyone, one at a time. Her expression is calm, reserved.
Indarius walks in and stares through the glass for several moments tensely. "Enjoying your temporary stay in the dog house?"
He waits just long enough for her to start to reply or not before cutting in or continuing, "Glare all you want, you know what you did was wrong and you'll be sorely mistaken if you think you'll weasel your way out. Or get anywhere near Caio again."
Lua's mouth twists in distaste. She doesn't say anything immediately in response, though her wolf-eyed glare becomes darker. "Your gloating is petty for one as strong as you. I admit I lost; more than you could ever imagine. Caio is no longer mine."
He turns his hand over, "Yeah, Caio failed to mention you were also a witch of sorts. So... hope you really don't mind if I took that whole mind control thing away. Now your staring is just that." Indy wasn't going to turn down the comment that was 'obviously' meant to stroke his ego. Taking the chance to remind Lua just how small he could make her.
"On the bright side, you and your pack are just getting shipped back to Brazil, a little sore I'm sure, but alive. So that's a victory in some way."
Max hangs back and returns Lua's glare, but remains silent for now.
Lua gives Indarius a look as if she had stepped in something unpleasant and was scraping it off her shoe. "And you continue to gloat. Undignified. I do not mind going back to Brazil. It will be safer for me, now that there is no one to control Caio once the Wolf consumes him. He will be beyond savage. Best you kill him now."
Indarius scowls though it's hidden by the glamoured hood though he does rise to her provocation as he leans in to the glass, "We will not kill him. But if you step into My city, and threaten to hurt My friends and people again. I will make it my personally mission teach you how to heel."
Lua steps closer to the glass. "What bluster. And you paid so little attention. I did not threaten. I demanded, yes, but that is what an adult does to children. And you are so a child. Very much so."
She turns her back on Indarius, but speaks loudly so he can hear through the glass. "Keep the mantle if you think you can master it. Bring the wild children to 'heel' as you say. I'll remember you."
Max looks at Percy with a frown, picking up on the possessive tone of his words...
He doesn't back down from his challenge, but does remove himself from being next to the glass once she steps away. "This is Halcyon, we don't aquiesse to villainous demands. You might want to keep a closer eye on your pack since they kidnapped one of ours, unless you ordered that. Either way enjoy your stay while it lasts MoonMoon."
He steps towards the door ready to leave if Max doesn't have anything to say.
With a final stern glare at Lua, Max follows Percy out of the room.
Later, once they’re alone, the demoness turns to the wizard. ”Hey, Perce. Back there, the way you were speaking to Lua... It was a little bit scary. Are you okay? Anything you want to talk about?”
Having pulled his hood down now that they were in a more secure place he was okay with being called Percy or other variations of his name.
He gave Max a quizzical look, "Well I 'was' trying to scare her. She came here and hurt my friends so gotta make sure she doesn't get any bright ideas.... you think I took it too far?" He certainly wasn't going to mention the fact that he's been split on so many fronts that sure maybe he was a bit at the end of his rope in terms of f$*!s to give.
”Maybe. Don’t get me wrong, Lua deserves everything that’s coming to her. But it’s been a crazy few weeks. Have you had any time to just kinda relax and be a teenager instead of a wizard or a superhero? I think you’d benefit from a little you time, you know?”
There is a definite pause as he considers that, "There hasn't been time to relax. I've got to figure out the journal so I can resummon Dr. Infinity. That way I can fix you're whole... situation because." He choked on his words a bit and grew strangely sheepish given how he'd just taunted a werewolf.
"Well obviously brute forcing it won't work. On top of that sure we've gotten rid of one of Caio's problems, but still have to reseal and tame the Wolf. Stop Connies step-brother from expanding his hellish operations. Find a cure for Grace, I don't even know what the hell is up with Shin but i'm sure there's something. The only one's who seem to not need my help in some form are Connie and Fems." He wants to pout at that but it would be childish to say the least.
"Oh and... and!" He rolls up his sleeve showing the new scales where Grace had hit him in their previous engagement. "I'm becoming more scalie everytime i get hurt and have no 'real' idea why. This never happened any othertime I got hurt so why now?"
Max puts a hand on Percy’s non-scaly arm. ”Hey. Slow down! Yes, there’s a lot going on. There always is. But you’re doing nobody any good by burning yourself out! You have to take care of yourself. And it isn’t your responsibility to try to fix everybody’s problems. We’re a team. More than that, we’re friends. We’ll take on these challenges together.”
Percy breaths deeply and exhales slowly, "You're right... you're right, one thing at a time. Caio is handled right now, Shin's recovering in the hospital, and now that Connie has some distilled devil essence she can help if she keeps her mind on task. That leaves me to.. figure out the journal which I've been heedlessly beating my head against."
”Yes. Later,” Max says. ”First, you’re coming over for a night of pizza and video games. I’m not taking no for an answer.”
"Caio gonna be there?" Percy questions knowing how things are a bit sour right now.
"If he wants to come, he's welcome. We're friends again," she says with a smile.
"Yeah.. i don't know if he sees me in the same light after yesterday."
"Let's just keep it the two of us, then."
"Sure thing. Anything I should bring over?"
”Just your winning personality!” Max says with a laugh.
"Right, it's a date. Er well you know like a time... you k ow what I mean." He blunders