Horizon checks the last tracker and sees that it's moving. Fast. It's currently on the I-117 beltway that threads in and around Halcyon City like a ribbon. Frequently snarled in traffic, the elevated highway at this time of night is usually less crowded and thus perfect for a joyride.
Well that was easy. Either the boss was enjoying it, or one of his flunkies was taking advantage. Either way he planned to bring them in. "They're moving fast, so let's go," He says as he flies up and hooks his arms underneath hers from behind to lift off with her.
It was doable. He felt disappointed in that.
"Car is full of dangerous modifications, so be careful. But don't feel like you have to keep it in one piece," Horizon adds to Diva.
"Understood," Diva says. Her tail lashes back and forth as she hangs in Horizon's grasp, eager to get to the action.
Horizon flies up into the chilly and wet night, hazily illuminated with orange street lights and the ambient glow of the city.
Anticipating the tracker's route, he and DD position themselves at one of the long stretches of highway that runs parallel to the Shuster Skyrail. As expected they see a sleek sports car heading their way at a high rate of speed!
What do you do?
"Okay C-Monkey, you don't actually have to pop your top at least not yet. You can if you want twist my arm, but it'd just be for aesthetic purposes. Like having a plant, or a motivational poster."
She rolls up her sleeve, grabs a sharpie, and quickly falls into a flurry of note taking. "Okay bud, I'm starting from the assumption that this is definitely a Thing. Goal #1 right now of our diagnosis is to see if we can rule out our two leading proximate causes: the Wolf or the Sword. I'm gonna need a list of specific times lost, what you were doing beforehand you can be euphemistic if you absolutely must, but if I ask for more specifics it's because I legitimately need them, and what you last and first remember around the gaps. Perce mentioned that Good Hair was acting odd - do you know if she's been losing time too? Has she had similar bouts of super strength? You were surprisingly uninterested in how soaked you were earlier, is that new? Any other new compulsions or instincts? Senses? Anything like that you've noticed from Good Hair? She might be picking up on something that your tattoos are keeping relatively tamped down. We won't like, intentionally have her play Canary in the Coal Mine, but since she's down here, I am gonna check the cage, you know?"
"I'll keep my top then, so you lose your mind." He jokes back.
As she starts to make questions, the first thing Caio checks is trying to lift some heavy crates and junk that are still piled in a corner of the base and to his surprise he discovers he isn't as strong as he was back in the harbor, yet still much stronger than a human should be. "I think it is fading already. I'm still strong, but not as I was earlier."
He is curious about her suspicion about the sword. "I hope the Wolf has nothing to do with it and is still locked, but the sword? I returned it to the Corps already, just after that fight with Alcott." He explains. "I don't think I've ever proved myself to the sword... at least I felt no difference at all and I don't have it anyways."
Caio then focuses on the other questions. "I lost time only once and it happened after school when I was crossing the campus to meet with Skyler. I did not notice anything until she called me out for being half an hour late. I do not remember anything from the time lost and have not felt anything different ever since." He then frowns. "It is certainly possible that I or even you and other students have been losing time and not realized it."
"Skyler also lost half an hour at least once and she was as surprised as I was... I have not noticed anything different about her and she had not mentioned anything either. When did Percy mentioned she was acting weird? He hasn't told me anything." He tells, now worried.
When asked about the rain and being soaked, he agrees it is odd. "Yeah... this is odd. I've always liked the rain, but I've never liked being wet... when I had the Wolf, I felt much less cold, but it was the sensation of wet clothing that bugged me, but now it is almost as if I've never properly seen it, you know?" He then focuses on the feelings he had before when looking at the heavy sky. "It is as if the rain was some sort of miracle that was sent to cleanse everything. Beautiful and magical in ways, but also strong and terrifying."
"Yeah, I feel the rain is certainly a clue. It is the only thing I've noticed have changed. I certainly feel different about it."
"All right, here he comes - gonna set you down to intercept. Stop it if you can, jump on it if you can't," Horizon tells Diva as they land on the highway. Using his tech pouch, he draws out two orbs that he tosses to either side of the road, before a hum starts up from them both. He gets ready to fly into action once it's been slowed down or stalled out!
"Mm." Connie raises her eyes to the ceiling, pupils slightly shifting from side to side while she reviews. "It started raining at pretty much the exact second you picked up the sword... And Halloween, a couple days before then..." She shrugs dismissively. "Sword fits the differential best, we can dig through the calendar for other rainy days if that lead doesn't pan out. Speaking of, I've seen the Sword of Showers before, but I wasn't really properly introduced. Do you know where it is now?"
It would be wrong to be disappointed this didn't involve a physical, right?
"Wait, was it raining or anything when you lost time? Didn't get the full answer there earlier bee tee dubs. Strength and uh, new appreciation for precipitation make sense for Rainy Relics, but that might be a coincidence for the blackout."
Horizon tosses the disruption spheres, but one takes an odd bounce and rolls too far away for it to be effective. The joyriding vehicle is about to race past them!
"Hum... I have not noticed it has started to rain when I picked the sword. Yeah, this probably isn't a coincidence. The Corps have it, but I can give them a call and ask for it back so you can take a look." He says, confident that they'd comply.
He then tries to remember about the night he has lost time. "No, I don't think it was raining and when Skyler lost her time it for sure wasn't."
"The time I've lost time, I came to the base, took a shower and browsed the net before leaving to see Skyler. Nothing special. I remember nothing about it and would not have even noticed it if Skyler had not pointed out that I was late." He explains. "It was literally as if between two steps I lots 30 minutes."
"Yeah... generally my inclination is to assume a single cause for a sudden presentation of anomalies, but, since the sword is a weapon on multiple levels and derives at least its current import from an inherently antagonistic belief structure, the idea that being tapped by the sword or the being it's connected to has made you the subject of reciprocal hostility is pretty likely.
"The Corps will probably know more about that aspect in any case... Okay. I have some thoughts about ways to at least detect any further service outages in your brain. The more sure-fire, the more invasive. Same scale applies to me stopping it, but until we have more details I want to be clear you'd only be getting my best bet. If this thing is happening through an unexpected vector it would be... costly to account for all the unknown variables. Not impossible, but I wouldn't recommend it unless things change for the worst."
She considers for a moment, choosing her words carefully.
"I also wouldn't recommend doing nothing, but since this probably isn't Wolf related, and I trust you, I'm not going to bully you as much as I would on that point."
"All right, here he comes - gonna set you down to intercept. Stop it if you can, jump on it if you can't," Horizon tells Diva as they land on the highway. Using his tech pouch, he draws out two orbs that he tosses to either side of the road, before a hum starts up from them both. He gets ready to fly into action once it's been slowed down or stalled out!
Diva cracks her neck as the speeding car approaches. She plants her feet and prepares to grab it as it passes by, using her inhuman might to lift the car off the road and stop it in its tracks!
"All yours, jefe!" she calls over her shoulder.
The sudden appearance of a purple demon in the road causes the driver to swerve into the blast radius of Horizon's emp devices. The sound of squealing tires echoes across the Beltline as the driver of the sports car over-corrects into Devil Diva's grasp.
The demon girl braces against the impact, her feet digging into the concrete as she slides back from the momentum. With a heave, she lifts the car into the air! The engine roars but the tires spin helplessly without any contact with the road.
What do you do?
"I'll send them a message about the sword." He guarantees Connie and picks his phone as he starts to type.
"About the time lost, I think we don't need to go all crazy before we know more about it, so if you could do something to detect it when it happens again, I think it is good for now." He adds while typing. "Also, I think you should do this for everyone of us because as far as we know, it could happen to anyone... if it hasn't already."
"We should also think about how to know if regular students are also experiencing something like that. Skyler mentioned that the other night she could not sleep because any girls were shifting furniture all in the middle of the night and while this doesn't scream 'lost time', it could be a clue."
On his phone, he sends the Corps a message.
Caio: Good night. Could I borrow that angel sword back? We need to check it. I'm experiencing some strange episodes of incredible strength and a sudden appreciation for rain. Might be related to it.
"Thank you!" Horizon tells Diva as he flies up to the sports car and takes a moment to analyze it through Clocktower. He had no clue what any of this tech might do if he just tried to break in, so a clue as to avoid getting a nasty shock or making it harder to crack it open would be useful if there was anything in the database.
It would be more helpful to him if Diva would have stopped shaking the car around so much. "You can set it on the concrete barricade, the wheels can't touch the pavement there. Seriously, I can't get a good reading on its specs when you're wobbling so much!" He tells her heatedly. Maybe it was nothing, but it certainly sounded like he was belittling her decision making here.
The cards sleek and streamlined, with paint that seems to change colors depending on how it hits the light. The data feed from Clocktower isn't producing much, probably due to countermeasures in the car's construction. Horizon surmises that the best way in is to use Max's strength already on display. She could probably get her claws into the gaps around the door and rip it off its hinges.
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"I mean, we've noticed and heard nothing about recently missing time except for you and your very vibes-sensitive galpal, so that mostly seems like a waste of time... Also, some of us already examine our days for missing time like professionals or people with a lot of irons in the fire and an executive function disorder. Whatever. Okay."
Connie stoops to the ground, gets down on one knee and holds up an intensely cheap looking piece of jewelry and takes a deep steadying breath. "Caio middlenamehere Costa, would you do me the honor, of wearing this tacky-ass mood ring, while we figure out what's the newest thing wrong with your brain?" The ring doesn't quite fit on his finger, but that just makes her smile even more broadly.
"ohmygod it's better Correction: wearing this tacky-ass PINKY mood ring?"
"...Okay. Now I gotta find Becky-with-the-good-hair and get her rigged up too. Whaddya say, do I try the proposal bit again or come up with something new?"
Diva's lip curls up in a snarl as she grunts with effort. "Of course, my bad! Because it's just so easy to lift a car off the ground, I thought I'd wiggle it around to make it a little more challenging!"
She puts the car down on the concrete barrier, then waits for confirmation from Horizon before ripping the doors off with her claws!
Horizon scowled and glared back at Diva. "Just take the door off, it doesn't look like it has anything that can stop you from tearing through the seams with your claws," He tells her, irritation in his voice. It was irrational. But at least it kept him from thinking about Conflux and Caio.
"Now then, if you would be so kind as to exit the vehicle with your hands up, we'll make sure no harm comes to you when we deposit you to jail," He calls out to the interior of the car.
Eyes widening, Caio covers his mouth and gasps. "Oh my God OH MY GOD " He says as he grabs Connie by her waist and lifts her up as if she was a toddler, then making a straight face and adding. "This is the happiest day of my life." He puts her down and takes the ring.
"Mood ring, what is up with that?" He asks. "Skyler will come back probably tomorrow. You can try the proposal again, sure, but don't think you'll get a better reaction."
The sports car's engine continues to rev helplessly as Devil Diva hangs it up on the concrete barrier. The pair of heroes bicker for a moment, then the demoness digs her claws into one of the doors, preparing to rip away the door.
Before she can put her muscles to work, however, a low thrum quickly builds up hidden behind the revving engine. It culminates into a repulsor blast directed down, launching the souped-up car into the air and off the barrier! DD and Horizon are knocked backwards off their feet by the sudden blast!
The opalescent-hued sports car lands on the road with the immediate squeal of tires. Plumes of burning rubber fill the air as the driver starts to race away!
What do you do?
Connie blinks, hard, as Caio puts her down, chomping on the inside of her cheeks to keep from making too big an expression.
Oops
"Good thing I've been practicing getting lifted in cheer, O my fiancain't. We've just been going over how you don't know your own strength."
Oops oops oops
"Mood ring's just a good focus anyways. A little potential for interference, but- Oh that reminds me. If you or Sky High get, well uh, sky high, especially if you get up to Other Activities during, please give me a text or something first so I don't interrupt."
"Oh, no, you don't!" Devil Diva growls as she leaps back to her feet. Her eyes glow a demonic red, and she suddenly takes off like a bullet fired from a gun, zooming along the road in pursuit of the car!
She leaps onto the hood of the souped-up car and begins ripping and tearing, trying to damage the engine enough to slow it down so Horizon can catch up.
With a burst of demonic speed, Devil Diva catches up to the elusive vehicle. Before she can leap upon its hood, however, the sports car shimmers and blurs, then divides into three duplicates! Suddenly faced with three targets, DD is unsure which car is the right one!
"Horizon, help me out!" Max shouts via her communicator as she tries to determine which car is the real one!
"True, but I'm confident I'd still be able to lift you even without the mysterious boosted strength."
He blushes a bit when Connie asks him to warn her if he and Skyler were about to do something. "We are taking things slow, but I'll let you know... oh, does this also triggers with dreams and... the mornings, or wild boners?"
She voice-texts Raquel.
Maeve: I’m off work, and on my way!
_
She gets a text back. "Cool. We're in line"
Villaintown is a gentrified section of Halcyon full of old warehouse and small storefronts converted to coffee shops, bistros, and bars. Formerly a hotbed of villain lairs and turf wars, it is now a hip area of the city for young urbanites.
_
After parking in a garage, Maeve finds her way to the line and greets Raquel, Ngon and Gina with a warm smile.
“This is a very different part of the city! I have also explored other areas, including a super-cute tea shop in the suburbs.
“How is—” Chasity? “—everyone?”
_
Maeve finds the trio in the thick of a densely packed line seeking entry into the venue. The ages of the crowd vary from high school age like the Halcyon Prep students to a few with gray hair or bald pates. A man with an armload of t-shirts with the Super-Powered Beat Down logo on it is trying to sell them at a discount price from what they'll be found inside.
Gina and Ngon make room for Maeve. "We're good! They're just about ready to open the doors so good timing."
Raquel passes a flask to Maeve. "We can't bring it inside, so might as well drink up out here."
_
Maeve gives the flask a curious look.
But she’s seen Shin with his cigarettes. She’s paid attention in Health Class. She wants approval from Chastity’s friends, but not by caving into peer pressure.
She does not take the flask in-hand and tries to deflect the offer with humor.
“I wasn’t born yesterday, but my liver was.”
_
Raquel shrugs, takes a sip, then passes it to Ngon.
_
Maeve feels awkward not drinking, and everyone else drinking, not talking. If there were only a second night mission, I wouldn’t be in this mess.
Too late now. But someone’s gotta say something. Just don’t talk about Chastity. Don’t talk about Chastity. Don’t talk about Chas—
“So, how’s—” DON’T. “—the flavor?”
_
Ngon tries to hold in a cough, but isn't successful. "Terrible," he says after he catches his breath. He holds the flask up to Gina, who shakes her head. He passes it back to Raquel.
Gina tilts her head as she looks at Maeve. "So, have you heard SPBD before? Do you like their style of music?"
_
“Hahahahaha… I had a funny misinterpretation that we were going to a wrestling match! Then you said ‘concert’ at lunch and I realized it’s like Sex After Cigarettes or Tropical Fornication Storm or Lime Garden.” Maeve flashes a toothy eager grin. “I look forward to my first ever live musical performance! I’m sure I will enjoy it—as I enjoy all forms of music: indie, jazz, classical… not country. Super-Powered Beat-Down is not a country band, right? Because this thrift-store Cindy Lauper outfit does NOT include a ten-gallon hat.”
_
They all shake their heads. "No, not country," Ngon says.
_
Maeve wonders if they really didn’t know she was kidding.
“Oh, c’mon. I’m from another planet, not another universe.”
This, she says with a smile.
_
They roll their eyes. The doors to the venue open and suddenly all focus is getting inside and not pulled away from their companions by the crowd.
The four Halcyon Prep students stake out their spot on the floor a dozen feet away from the stage, though Gina is struggling to see because of her height -- or lack thereof -- and the people immediately in front of her. Ngon pulls her close and lets her step on his shoes to get a slightly better view.
_
Maeve is glad to be a tall girl, but still, she considers the others.
“Gina, slip in front of me. I have a nice between-shoulders view.” If Gina takes the spot, she tries to swap with Ngon without losing Raquel.
_
Gina and Ngon switch places gratefully. Once settled and the crowd is inside, the show begins. The band is plays loud, aggressive music with pounding drums and shredding guitar while the singer screams his lyrics at the top of his lungs.
_
Maeve had done research on rock concerts. In addition to learning how to replicate the Cindi Lauper look dirt cheap, she learned of the importance of gummy ear plugs. She has enough for the friend group if any want a pair.
When the noise begins, she wonders if her ear plugs are defective but dares not remove them in case they really are saving her from immediate permanent deafness.
She glances at Raquel, Gina, some girls in front of her, gauging how one is expected to behave in this situation.
(In the meantime, Maeve’s pose is that of a princess standing on her balcony overlooking a street serenade. She is smiling warmly and politely, and—aside from the aforementioned glances—she mostly maintains eye contact with the lead screamer.)
_
The concert is an assault on Maeve's new human senses. The music is so loud she can feel the pounding bass in her chest. The colored lights flash and strobe, bathing the stage in a riot of hues and sometimes beaming out into the crowd. The press of the bodies thrashing around jostle Maeve out of her perfect princess pose. Ngon, Gina and Raquel dance along with the rest of the crowd, throwing up their hands with only their thumb and pinky extended, their screams and shouts lost in the din.
_
Oh my goodness, Maeve lip-synchs because she certainly didn’t hear herself think.
She no longer doubts the earplugs are working. Like Connie’s stealth charm against her pixite glow, they’re doing their best, but an inanimate object can only do so much.
Maeve tries to loosen up. She raises her fist as she dances, but keeps a tight ball. Extending a finger is a good way to get a broken bone. And like Connie’s pixite body, this human body is the only one Femtite can ever have. She needs to take good care of her Maeve.
Chastity and I better still be on for Nutcracker after I’ve suffered this for the sake of maintaining friendship.
She turns to Raquel and yells, “—————! ———? ————, ——!” Hopefully Raquel won’t say ‘what’ because Maeve already forgot. Who can think with all this noise?
But there’s a beat, and Femtite was by far the best dancer at Gates of Hell and both Halloween Dances! Being Maeve changes nothing!
“—————!!!” Maeve dances like a blind melon raging against a machine!
_
Raquel just points to her ear and shrugs when Maeve tries to say something to her. She holds up her phone briefly as if to say, text me if it's important.
Raquel and Ngon look on in approval as Maeve starts dancing wildly.
Super-Powered Beat Down finish their set after a little more than two hours plus one encore. Finally the regular lights come on, returning the stage from its once colorful and frantic existence to one of drab life. The crowd pours out of the doors or line up at the merchandise stands hoping to get a t-shirt or bandanna before going.
Gina is leaning hard on Ngon, while Raquel is calmly checking her phone as they line up for the entrance.
_
Maeve isn’t interested in merch, but she is interested in letting that super-powered beat her out of her head before she drives, so the slow procession out is fine with her.
She says to Raq (probably yelling without realizing), “I was saying earlier—trying to, anyway—I had to drive to make it on time. But the plan’s to take the sky rail, right?”
_
"Yeah, that's the plan," Raquel responds.
There's a steady stream of people heading in the direction of the rail station. Food trucks lining the street offer late-night dining and a few storefronts, like coffee shops, are still open as well.
_
Maeve lowers her voice just a little. “I want to join you, but I have to get my car. I’ll text you.”
_
Raquel eyes the side road that leads to the parking garage, then turns to Gina and Ngon. "You guys go ahead. I'll ride with Maeve."
_
Maeve had a different plan in mind, but with all the cameras in the garage and the people, she’s not so sure it would have worked.
Once in the car, Maeve says to Raquel, “Thanks for joining me.”
(She pauses her Spotfinity playlist before it can start. The song is called Tell Me by a band called Sorry.)
Deciding it best to just stay Maeve for now, she asks Raquel, “Do you normally go to these kinds of shows?” Though she had a good time, this isn’t really the conversation Maeve wants to have.
_
Raquel leans back in her seat. "It's not my favorite type of music, but it's fun. I have eclectic tastes. Did you have fun?"
_
“Yes.”
_
She crosses her legs. "Succinct. Feels like there's a 'but' in there." She looks over to Maeve. "And I don't mean 'butt' like 'ass'. I mean that you've got more to say."
_
“Maybe I’m being a bit of a buttock for one-word-answering you,” Maeve jokes. “But the one-T-but… yes, there is one.
“Yesterday was catastrophic. I mean, what happened with Chastity wasn’t even the worst part of my day. And this give-her-space thing… I’m trying to respect the human way of dealing with socially awkward situations. But I feel like I’m not addressing the issue.”
She falls silent as she takes a corner and continues as she drives up the on-ramp to the beltway.
“I mean—I don’t want to overwhelm the poor girl, but to not call? Not even to apologize? Ask her if she wants an explanation? I mean… I want to know if I can even sit at the same lunch table.
“You know Conway left the school because of me, don’t you? The boy was infatuated with me and… I just… I didn’t understand, and I didn’t try to.
“I don’t want Chastity to think leaving the school is the answer. She left on Friday and I thought her parents might pull her from the school, the same way they ma—”
Maeve catches her tone as she starts to accuse the Robertsons of making Chastity date that boy.
“Sorry. Tell me, does space and silence really solve problems?”
She thinks of all the wild theories and accusations and still-lingering bitterness after her break-up, and wonders if giving Connie space helped, or simply prolonged the hard feelings—some of which were never addressed, and may remain untold.
_
Raquel shrugs. "I'm sure it can. If someone is feeling backed into a corner, the best thing is to back off and give them space."
She stares out her window for a few moments. Summoning a deep breath, she looks back at Maeve. "She's freaked out. She said you told her you became human for her. Not just an alien pretending to be human, but really human. And I... I can't help but agree with her panic. Sort of.
"You're a glowing, shrinking, high-tech alien from a meteor world. It's fine if you want to see what it's like to be human. Hell, that's great. People generally suck, but there are some good ones too, and if being really human helps you understand that, wonderful!"
Raquel throws up her hands. "But doing it all because of Chastity? What's your goal? Really?"
_
In the interest of providing context, Maeve asks Raquel, “Are you aware Chastity wanted me to appear more human so her parents would not see me as alien? The guise would not fool them forever.”
_
Raquel arches a disbelieving eyebrow. "Really?" She moves her head from side to side. "So it was purely for your disguise. I mean, if that's all it was... no ulterior motives whatsoever?"
_
Maeve nods. “The transformation code was created unbeknownst to me, until its completion and delivery on Thursday. My Mother thought my teammates and I would be surprised, in a good way. But, my teammates weren’t interested in me becoming human… there’s some context I prefer to not share, if you don’t mind.
“My Mother was upset that I wouldn’t use the code—which was developed by my planet’s most brilliant minds, and likely, effort and resources are on an astronomical scale. So I didn’t want to be ungrateful, nor unappreciated. So I thought Chastity would be the one person who would appreciate the form… I would be human for her, and we’d see the Nutcracker and…”
She glances at Raquel. “Do I wish we were more than friends, or that she’d want that? Yes. But I wasn’t trying to reveal that—and it has nothing to do with the creation of my human form.”
Eyes on the road, she concludes, “Chastity wasn’t even a factor when it came to the decision to create this body. It wasn’t even my idea to create it. But I did find it a problem that the tear ducts weren’t working.”
_
Raquel stares openly at Maeve while she speaks. Her expression changes from one who's made up her mind to having her opinion challenged, and then possibly changed.
She leans back in her chair again. "Huh. That's... well, it's like... that sucks. I think Chastity did appreciate it... she mentioned looking forward to helping you, like, figure out some of the surprise human stuff that you probably won't expect. But then you made it sound like it was all for her."
She sits in silence for a time as the gates of Halcyon Prep come into view. "I mean, I guess I could... try to do some damage control. But I'm not going to lie to her. You're into her, and if she asks me directly..."
She sighs. "Sorry." She falls silent, looking out the window as Maeve maneuvers the Bug into one of the few parking spots on campus.
_
“Thank you,” Maeve replies, eyes getting moist. “And don’t lie to her. Hiding the truth is what made this week so painful.”
She puts her head down on the wheel.
“I’m glad the truth got out, in a way—” A tear escapes as Maeve anticipates all the ways the highly-anticipated date tomorrow can easily snap that flimsy sliver of hope she’s clinging to. “—even if exposing my unrequited feelings just expedites their death.”
_
Raquel is quiet for a long time. The silence from her stretches longer and longer until it becomes strange.
When Maeve looks over to her, Raquel's head is slumped against the Bug's door, her chest rising and falling softly…
"Hmm? I must've dozed off. Sorry about that," she says as she stretches.
_
Maeve says, “It’s fine. But now I’m really glad I didn’t sip from the flask, or I’d have slept at the wheel,” she jokes.
Not sure a hug is appropriate, she gently places a hand on Raquel’s forearm. “And… thank you, Raquel. Like I said when you dozed off, be a hundred percent honest.
“I am in love with Chastity, and that includes the part about respecting her if she doesn’t feel the same way.”
_
She gives Maeve a sad look. "Well, good luck with that. I'm going to go to bed now. Strange, I'm usually jazzed after a concert. Anyway, good night, Maeve."
_
Maeve wonders if Raquel’s sad look means she’s shipping Fem-Chas, or sees Maeve in hopeless denial. Either way, one thing is certain.
“Good night, my friend.”
"Dammit, don't let them get away!" Horizon says as he flies off after the car as well. Seeing Diva poised to strike but the car also throwing up duplicates that he thinks must be illusions, he tries to use his power to determine which one is the real car.
It's a no brainer for him as he quickly lances out three bursts of energy at each car, not enough to harm but certainly enough to determine which ones go through the image and which one hits solid matter. "Right side!" He tells Diva.
"Sure, sure and you just want to pet the Connie-Bunny and be its friend forever, I've seen how that one ends, Lennie."
"And I didn't-" Connie puts her face in her hands, muffling her words, "I did not ask to know about any boners, wild, tamed, or feral. I was so specific." She clears her throat and uncovers her face. "Only if you are doing big emotional and physical things while in an altered state of consciousness would a heads up prevent me from interruptussing you."
"Okay, speaking of ruining someone's nocturnal good times - who was having a bed rattling night, and might be connected to missing time? I swear, this is not me asking just 'cause ya girl is down bad."
Devil Diva leaps and is relieved to land upon the correct vehicle. She slides a bit on the hood, her claws having trouble finding purchase in what is evidently a well-armored chassis. She hammers at the hood, trying to get at the engine to disable the car, but the driver slams on the brakes!
DD was ready for such a move, however, and though she is flung off the hood she lands on her feet in a perfect three-point stance bathed in the car's headlights.
She hears Angel's voice in the back of her mind. You should be live streaming this!
Horizon is able to catch up to the car that is again trying to make a break for it!
"Not happening again," Horizon says as he guns for the vehicle! This time he goes for a solid blast of energy at the rear of the car - how he was supposed to expect the countermeasures that it would have against that tactic?
Horizon discovers too late that the color-shifting paint job seems to have an ablating effect for energy blasts. His attack is entirely ineffective, and in response the car's spoiler tilts to reveal a futuristic gun. It shoots a grappling bola straight at Horizon which wraps around him several times and pinning his arms to his side!
With another peal of squealing tires, the sports car tries to evade Devil Diva and race off into the night!
What does DD do?
Diva zips off to cut off the car's escape route. She braces herself for impact as she tries to ensure it cannot get away!
Leaving her teammate behind to try to escape the bindings on his own, Devil Diva blocks the car's escape route with her own body. She tries to brace as the car smashes into her!
On the one hand, having his arms pinned by the bola didn't do much for knocking him out of the sky. Horizon could easily maintain his flight. Freeing his arms so that he could commit those somatic motions that he felt helped direct his powers on the other hand was a big pain for him.
He flied forward, slower than before as he attempts to get free of the bola. A knife from his wristguard popped out to try and cut through the material, but he didn't have good enough leverage and the cord was some high strength material.
He would have loved Diva's help for getting free, but she was after the car, getting in its way and getting slammed hard in the process! "Diva! Are you all right?" He calls out, momentarily concerned. Scowling, he relents on using tech to free himself and tries shifting the bola around to find the ends to untangle them, freeing himself finally - but not quick enough to try and stop the damage...
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Indarius reappears outside of Halcyon's city district outside of a place he hadn't visited in quite some time. He takes a moment to reglamour himself as he had when Femtite and him had gone to the tea shop and approached the door, giving it a few solid knocks.
After a bit a middle-aged man opens the door shocked, "Percival? Why are you here so late?" He looks out the door for the vehicle that brought him then to the boy who's more than a little wet.
"Hey dad, sorry I didn't call wanted to surprise you, then the bus stopped short and the rain and..."
Reginald placed a hand on his son and urged him inside, "You'll catch your death out there, you're freezing. Go on and get some dry clothes, in your room, i'll reheat some of your mothers Goulash."
-
"Who is it, Dear?" Percy's mom can be heard calling from further inside the house.
"Who do you think? Just our offspring, soaked to the bone!" He hurries Percy inside and takes his coat.
-
Percy tries to help himself out of the coat, "Dad i'm fine really, just a little rain." he nervously laughs mostly hoping the glamour doesn't break under such scrutiny. "I should have called."
-
"Maybe, but you're here now. Go, get dried off and then join us in the kitchen. You can tell us how's school?" He gives the coat a shake in the foyer, then hangs it up.
-
Once out of the coat Percy starts towards the stairs, "Yeah, okay it's been fine but yeah i'll tell you more in the kitchen." He swallows the lump in his throat and heads up to his room, past plenty of family photos hanging on the walls including the one containing the whole family before Great-great grandpa Mikael died, Percy didn't really know him as he was an infant still. But the picture still brought a warm feeling, he dipped into his room to change.
-
It's not long before Percy can catch the aroma of a reheated goulash from the kitchen.
-
Seeing his room is largely unchanged from when he started attending Halcyon prep he goes to the drawers and pulls out a fresh set of clothes tossing his current ones into the hamper. They fit snuggly, maybe a bit too snug with his new form, but it's not enough to cause any duress. He slides his satchel containing his magical things under his pillow making a mental note to move it else where later. Before he returned downstairs taking a big sniff of the air at the scent of food finding himself almost starving which he hadn't noticed earlier.
"Smells great like always, even reheated."
-
"It gets better the second day. That's why your mom always makes a double-batch. So I can take it to work."
Smiling at her son, Felicity slides the bowl to his usual spot at the dinner table. "Go on! Eat! Then tell us how you've been doing!"
-
He takes a seat at the table and digs in, with an appetite he honestly hadn't noticed since the whole dragon nonsense. Perhaps he just hadn't been watching what he was eating, or maybe it was just that in fact goulash was better after having time to age, like most stews. Either way he was very happy with his mothers cooking, nothing quite like it.
"Well, classes have been good. You heard about the whole spore invasion thing right?" He said after wiping his mouth with a napkin and taking a drink of water.
-
Reginald frowns as he thinks back. "The giant mushroom thing? Yeah, I think so. What about it? Did one of them land on your dorm?"
"If it did, I hope you're not just telling us now," his mother warns.
-
He smiles and waves it off "Yes the giant mushroom thing, but no nothing landed on my dorm. There was a bunch of heroes, I think they're calling themselves First class? Like they're younger some of them go to the school even. But they were flying around, shooting em down with their void powers and stuff, before they ever really got to the ground. I mean one of the girls she like used her weird magic to like slingshot herself into the sky it was really cool."
Explaining excitedly, he doesn't realize he significantly downplayed or even outright failed to mention the contributions of Indarius.
"We were given the all clear later that day, I was watching from the windows but the wolf dude just ripped into one of them that actually made it to the ground, saved all the kids who ran out to watch. That was kinda scary."
-
Percy's parents listen with concerned interest. Finally, Reginald says flatly, "Watching from the window and not the shelter, huh?"
Felicity smiles. "Well, it's good that there are heroes at your school to help out like that."
"Crazy world we live in. But, lot of work in rebuilding what gets knocked down by those heroes," Reginald says. "I'm working a new job on one of the buildings hit by that alien guy. The one who was after the Praetorian's girl?"
-
Percy realizes his father's flat tone and nervously rubs the back of his neck, "Ah.. yeah sorry guilty as charged there." he sweeps around to rub his chin before managing to set both arms back on the table. "Yeah I heard about that one. Thankfully wasn't near that whole mess it looked pretty rough, but I guess he just up and left with Praetoria after the Horizon guy started talking to him?"
He grows concerned himself and looks at his dad, "You weren't like there when it happened were you? Just fixing up the buildings now? I mean it sucks but... job security?" he says meekly.
-
He shakes his head. "No, just fixing them up now. Yeah, you can call it job security. Some cities get earthquakes, some get hurricanes or tornadoes. Halcyon gets aliens."
His mom interrupts. "I'm glad you're home. We need to talk Thanksgiving plans. Will you be home during the break?"
-
Percy nods glad his dad wasn't there, "Um I think i'll be free to come home, nothing planned with my friends yet. Were we doing the usual or anything special planned this year?" Figuring they'd get back to the school talk soon, or at the very least they could just talk about it tomorrow.
-
"The usual," Felicity says. "But Uncle Lazlo had knee surgery last week and has asked us to supply the turkey this year."
-
"Oh." He thinks back to Uncle Lazlo and figures that it must have been bad if he's asking them to cook the turkey. "I hope he's doing alright though, you know surgery went well?"
-
"He's recovering, but he can't be on his feet for long periods. And working those turkey fryers will be too hard for him this year," his father explains.
-
Percy can almost feel the follow-up question coming so he decides to catch it before they say it, "You want me to help with cooking them?"
-
His father smiles and nods. "It'd be nice if I got some help, yes."
-
"If there aren't any projects that come up i'll come by and give you a hand. I think I might have a real shot at a scholarship."
-
"That's great! We're so glad you got into Halcyon Prep," Felicity says. "I know it pulled you away from your friends at your old school, but see how it's working out?"
"What colleges are you thinking about?" Reginald asks. "Something local? Out of state?"
-
Percy scratched at the back of his neck, "Ah well I'm not certain exactly yet. Probably Avalorn Med. Tech, but that... well it's shooting a bit high maybe."
He skips over mention of having been pulled out of his old school.
-
His father scoffs. "No way. As smart as you are? As long as you're willing to put in the work, you'll be top of the class." He chuckles. "And you know what they call the person who graduates med school at the bottom of the class? Doctor."
-
Percy laughs nervously and scratches a bit deep on his neck where the scales haven't grown in yet causeing him to actually dig into his much softer skin.
"~Ackh~.. well there's this girl Connie. She's like way smarter than me, but I don't think she plans on going med ot anything for that matter. She's way too smart for even Halcyon colleges."
Being as subtle as possible he slruns his hand down his neck and closes his heand dropping it into his lap and giving it a glance under the table. Some blood sat on his fingertip although his neck looked clean under the glamour. He quickly glanced at the clock and pushed himself from the table.
"But yeah it's getting late I should get to bed and we can talk some more tomorrow I don't have to go back till late. So plenty of time to chat."
"Thanks for a late dinner, love you." He said as he rose from the table to quickly take the bowl to the sink and rinse it out.
Upstairs Percy dipped into the bathroom, checking on the scratch under the glamour, gently running his hand across it he came away with a small smear of blood. He cursed and washed his hands, grabbing a large bandaid, he carefully placed it on the wound. Great, nails are actually hardening now gotta be extra careful.
He sighs uses the bathroom and heads to bed for the night, Sunday is a new day afterall.
Max takes the hit without flinching, her muscles bulging with strength as she stands her ground!
Caio is visibly relieved that Connie's charm was not that sensitive. "Good because... good, we've elaborated enough about the matter. Moving on."
"About the night activities, I took it was not any bed rattling think, but actual furniture being moved around... I'll have to check with Skyler, but I think it is hard to mix the two sounds because of their rhythmic nature, you know?" He says, rhythmically slapping the back of one hand against the palm of the other.
The car comes to an abrupt stop, hitting the unyielding Devil Diva. The fight -- or more aptly the flight -- is taken out of the driver with this last impact. DD is able to pop the door open and yank the dazed driver and passenger out of the car.
They're both wearing clothing featuring playing cards, all diamonds.
Horizon struggles out of his bindings and steps to DD's side. They protest as they're detained.
Percy's reunion with his parents is interrupted. After sleeping in late in his old bed and going out for brunch at a local café, it was looking to be a quiet Suday afternoon. Bright sun and crisp late autumn air and his familiar home was a welcome contrast to the weirdness that his life has been lately.
But his senses go wild as he feels the bent ley lines from the day before suddenly return to an agitated state. It's so sudden that it sends ripples across the aether and blasts straight into Indarius's skull. Something is happening! As his head stops pounding, he knows something is again happening in Rustside, but much stronger!
* * *
Across town in Conflux's dorm, the Brain's own system of alerts goes off, indicating something magical is happening. Turbulence is appearing throughout the city, belying the quiet and pleasant weather the day otherwise promised.
What do you do??
5:27 AM - Maeve wakes up and looks at the clock. Almost three hours of sleep. I can do better.
5:43 AM - Maeve wakes up and looks at the clock. No I can’t.
She drags herself out of bed. She takes a look at the various hair products, soaps, lotions, and even contemplates the razor. She squints at her near hairless arm. Not today. She tucks the razor away, and gathers the rest of her necessary hygienic products.
5:55 AM - She lines them up on the bathroom sink.
6:09 AM - After her shower, Maeve does everything she can to beautify her human self.
6:17 AM - She holds the hairdryer by her hip, like a gunfighter ready to duel. “Okay, you blonde mop. I’m not gonna go around Halcyon looking like I was struck by lightning, or someone dumped spaghetti on my head and then I got struck by lightning.
“You’re angel hair. You’re cascading gold. You’re the veil to my brain. Well it sounded poetic until I said it aloud. But you know what else you are?
“You’re wet.”
Maeve raises her dryer.
Aims.
“And you’re mine. I don’t need a real human to tame you!”
Fires.
GAZHWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…
6:23 AM - Maeve’s hair is dry. Dry enough. This takes so long! She picks up her brush.
6:41 AM - Maeve’s hair is a frizzy mess.
She glares at the mirror. She puts down her hair brush.
6:42 AM - She brushes her teeth.
6:44 AM - She rinses, then points to her teeth. “Two minutes,” she says to her hair. “Why can’t you be more like them?”
Connie claps her hand and the EWS style siren in her room shuts off. She stalks huffily over to her desk and rolls out a map of the city with a bunch of flat tacks pressed into different neighborhoods, studying the pattern of their shifting colors.
"Rustside? S%++. Okay, the most heartwarming possibility is that there's a one-eyed Bunny looking back at the child who had first helped him to be Real..."
Connie looks out the window, a flat expression of discontent spreading across her face.
Well, would've been too much to ask that I could actually see big workings myself now, even after Recent Developments... Too bad, 'cause not calling to confirm could almost clarify that- No, nobody's on that degree of analysis. And hey, what if I am wrong?
She texts:
Connie: Hey Dovahkiin, my homemade PurpleAethers are giving me some bad returns
Connie: Care to poke your snout out the window and make sure I don't have a glitch?
Connie: 'Cause with Rustside rearing its head so soon, I'm figuring either there's a nursery magic Fairy doing good deeds, or we've got a problem that merits a closer look.
Toothless: read
...Well, if nothing else, this will keep me from re-checking if anyone's poking around my insta
Ditching her loungey 'research clothes,' Connie gets loaded for serious superhero work with All The Pockets. Cargo pants and her army surplus jacket provide the function while a tanktop with "I HOPE YOUR ABUSER DIES" written across it in rhinestones provided the fashion.
Tapping the comm bead she puts out a broad call. "Hey boys and girls, not to ruin your Sunday, but I'm getting some funky readings out in Rustside. Could be this is early enough that we can forestall Trouble right here in Halcyon city. That's Trouble with a capital T, which rhymes with D, which stands for Don't Know What's Happening yet.
"So no known need to ride out yet, but... well I'd cancel any dinner dates now and save the trouble.
Femtite, a lift would be nice."
Maeve is setting up her lofted area, checking her cell (in selfie mode) to make sure everything is in the shot: the graphic novel The Girl From the Sea, the Sally Ride poster, her Nutcracker ticket and the Bible quote from 1 Corinthians 13:6, Love rejoices in the truth.
She centers herself and presses record.
Allow 3 seconds to clip, 2…
“Good morning, Chastity. And isn’t it a lovely morning? I was hoping you and I could have an honest conversation, as our fr—”
Maeve cancels the recording and reads the text. A ride, eh? Why, certainly!
Maeve picks out a sweater-skirt combo and is out the door in a humanly-possible flash.
⬆️⬆️⬇️⬇️⬅️➡️⬅️➡️️️…
…
In a pixitalianly-possible flash, Femtite gets her Love Bug, Too over to Connie’s dorm. She shrinks to subatomic size and enters just like old ti—
_
There's very suddenly turbulence as soon as the Bug travels into the door, and a voice that's a little too loud to be comfortable on the ear suddenly booms out.
_
Femtite immediately contacts Connie via the comm.
“EEEEEEEE! Connie, this ward is so cute! And very pixite-specific. Huh. Well anyway, this is Princess Femtite contacting you via Princess Femtite, requesting a safe and friendly meeting about the ride you have requested.”
Well she took that a lot better than I would've guessed.
"Oh sure, just give me a second to- Yeah. You're good."
Femtite is suddenly in the room. Her magical-girled-on outfit is a pink Super Powered Beat Down babydoll tee much like those Maeve did not buy, not that they come in pink. Her denim jacket and skirt are rose red, and instead of knee socks, she’s sporting leg warmers!
She notes the map and other purposeful things in the now-just-Connie’s dorm, but she doesn’t comment. She smiles warmly.
“So, Rustside is at it again. I know you said cancel dinner, and it’s more like lunch-cancelling-time, but how about we ride out to Rustside anyway? There were children there when Per… I mean Indy and I were… there.”
Femtite is obviously lost in thought.
“I really think Percy sounds more heroic than Indy. Maybe it’s because Indy Jones is a jerk and Percy Jackson is thematically… sorry. I kept calling him Percy on mission. I just really like the name. Percival! The lady at the tea shop called him that.”
Suddenly remembering The Thing That Is Important, Fem reverse-tangents to that:
“Oh phooey! La’Quesha—she’s ten—if she’s there…”
As Femtite finally gets to the point (about riding out to Rustside immediately), Connie has likely noticed her aura has been fluctuating various reds and golds and pinks and off-whites.
Connie shrugs, already moving towards where the Bug'll be big enough for her to get inside. "I'd still take Indiana the Jones over Indiana the state. He's hot, punches Nazis, and is fictional, which goes a long way towards covering his many, many flaws. Like being a Nepo Baby. I think your issue is that Indarius/Indy is a very Name-y codename, so they don't get as neatly mentally classified as like, Horizon and Shin..."
"Hey you doing okay?" She gestures at Femtite's glow. "Keeping to that seven days of not making dramatic moves in your life idea? I do also need a full download on LaQuesha but the ride's not too short for both..."
Given everything that had happened, finding out that they were dealing with only a pair of the Busted Flush Gang flunkies instead of the big fish was an irritant to Horizon. But he put in the call to get them picked up and the car impounded, standing at an awkward distance from Diva while they cleaned up.
It was only after things were finally finished and he had a chance to speak to her without other prying eyes that he addressed her. "I screwed up," He tells her. "If you weren't here they would have absolutely gotten away. I'm sorry that I was being a bad teammate. I should strive to be more professional in the future."
“I didn’t ruin any additional friendships yesterday or doom an additional planet, so I guess yesterday was relatively low-drama?”
Femtite grows the Bug as soon as she and Connie are outside.
“Actually, I had a nice time being human last night,” she says as she lifts off. “Raquel was a real friend to me. Platonic, before you ask. But…”
The fluctuations reoccur as Femtite falls silent.
As she punches the rear thrusters, she asks, “Well, how are you, Connie?” Femtite is looking a little tense. She’s hesitant. “Do you have a plan for Day Eight?”
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Percy's reunion with his parents is interrupted. After sleeping in late in his old bed and going out for brunch at a local café, it was looking to be a quiet Suday afternoon. Bright sun and crisp late autumn air and his familiar home was a welcome contrast to the weirdness that his life has been lately.But his senses go wild as he feels the bent ley lines from the day before suddenly return to an agitated state. It's so sudden that it sends ripples across the aether and blasts straight into Indarius's skull. Something is happening! As his head stops pounding, he knows something is again happening in Rustside, but much stronger!
Percy is luckily grabbing some stuff from his room when the pangs hit him. The room spins as his head aches and his entire form ripples as the glamour is disrupted. But as soon as it began it stops and he's left half kneeling in his own room.
He stands with a pained hiss between his teeth and quickly reasserts the glamour before either of his parents can see. Some part of his mind drawn towards rustside like a compass needle. He looks to where the satchel containing his super hero stuff is tucked into his backpack and shakes his head. He is not dealing with this today.
She texts:
Connie: Hey Dovahkiin, my homemade PurpleAethers are giving me some bad returns
Connie: Care to poke your snout out the window and make sure I don't have a glitch?
Connie: 'Cause with Rustside rearing its head so soon, I'm figuring either there's a nursery magic Fairy doing good deeds, or we've got a problem that merits a closer look.
Toothless: read
It isn't long after that his phone buzzes, but he's downstairs now about to sit with his parents he checks the name, it's Connie. No doubt something about that arcane burst, but he slides the phone back in his pocket.
"Hey mom, you know how there was the whole animal breakout at the school? Not that I was like part of that apparently it was some sort of drug thing. But it got me thinking since some people do later in life."
He hesitated for just a moment suddenly very shy, "Um... what if like hypothetically I developed powers or something?"