Ziss swiftly hovers towards Wendy, using the resistant bottom of her hoverboard to deflect the shadow arrows thrown at her!
"We're here for the mirror! It's too dangerous for anyone to use!" Arcanum shouts as he conjures his own dragon made of psychic light to counter Haberdasher's shadow dragon!
"Mind if I add my own flourish?" Tumbler asks, as she wrenches materials from their surroundings to give the psychic dragon a sturdy skeleton of metal!
The Barbed Beret peeks her head from DD’s backpack to make a quick analysis.
Before Tumbler's metal skeleton in completely in place, Ziss flies towards the still forming dragon of light, finding a place for her inside the dragon! She makes sure her arms are free so she can use her helix gloves. "All dragons need a breaf weapon!"
Dervish continues to focus on the evil Hatrix. He teleports behind him and repeats the process, projecting his blade through him once again from behind!
”What? You didn’t see that one coming?” he asked.
The Barbed Beret thinks to her secret tech, knowing that it would certainly lead to a quick ending...
The Darling Derby stays focused on her foe—
“Who forced who?! You literally got away with murder, and now you possess a mirror tha—“
A Ken doll hops out of the backpack, onto Wendy’s shoulder. He’s wearing a rainbow patchwork jacket and a cowboy hat, and his unbendable arms are carrying a rocket as big as he is.
”AAaaAAaaAA! Ken! What the f%~*?”
The Ken doll does not answer. He straddles the rocket. A flame bursts—”AAH it burns!”—the rocket soars straight at the Haberdasher!
Ken holds up his hat, whooping as excitedly as his little voice chip can, “WAAAAHOOOOO! WAAHOO! WAA—“
The rocket hits the Haberdasher! Ken’s charred head, melty limbs fly from the great ball of fire!
"What the actual f!@+ was that DD?" Megan yelps, more caught off guard by the suicidal ken doll than the shadow magic.
While the Haberdasher is off-balance she digs her feet into the ground, and closes in at horrible speed, just needing an instant with him in her grasp to finish things. "'S probly time to shut this whole thing down 'fore someone gets hurt anyways."
Ziss deflects the shadow arrows away from Derby. She and Tumbler assist Arcanum, who creates a light dragon to fight the shadow dragon! The two beings clash, with the light dragon seizing the early advantage.
Dervish stabs at the Haberdasher again, blipping out before the man can retaliate! Then a Ken doll riding a rocket flies across the cave! The dragon interposes its bulk in front of the Haberdasher, taking the brunt of the explosion! Shrapnel blasts back at Derby!
Crimson Tide rushes at the Haberdasher, leaving holes in the cave floor as she goes. She grabs him by the neck and hoists him off the ground. ”Oi! Ya got me!” he chokes. ”I give up, but that monster don’t take orders from me!”
The shadow dragon’s eyes burn as it lashes out with its wings and tail, knocking Ziss and Tumbler around!
Arcanum was prepared for something to get blasted at Derby. In a flash and with barely a gesture, a blue corona appears around her that diverts all the shrapnel harmlessly to the side.
Tumbler stumbled back, bouncing off of the rocky floor before rolling to a halt. She looked real angry as she looked up at the monstrous shadow beast. The metal around her twists and screeches as it's rent into dangerously sharp objects, before flying out into it!
The Derby just stands there as the blast goes around her, thanks to Wes’ magic.
Staying on task, she whips her Hat-Hook at the one remaining threat, taking advantage of Tumbler’s opening!
Ziss jumps just in time to avoid the powerful blow and soon counterattacks with a blast of her own!
The Barbed Beret runs to the rolling head.
She kneels and cradles the head in her arms.
“Oh, Ken… why…?”
She lowers her head, stroking Ken’s solid plastic hair.
Megan gives the Haberdasher a practiced super-strong flick to the skull to knock him for a loop, then with the villain over one shoulder, she turns to his shadowy beast.
"'S it even solid? I saw Tumbles giving our monster a skeleton."
With its form already destabilized by the rocket explosion, the shadow dragon doesn't last much longer as you all surround and attack it! Between Tumbler's projectiles, Ziss's force blasts, and Derby's Hat-a-rang, the creature quickly melts back into the pool of shadows and disappears.
The Haberdasher lies slumped over Crimson Tide's broad shoulder.
What do you do?
Dervish notices several chunks of onyx crystals that Crimson Tide's destructive fighting style has exposed in the walls of the cave. They are likely valuable, and may even be useful if given to the Armorer to convert into some sort of device...
Arcanum breathes a sigh of relief when he sees that Tumbler and Ziss are all right, and that the draconic threat appears to have ended. "Is he awake? We need to find that mirror."
He pauses a moment and tries to sense the presence of magic; hopefully that will be the Eye of Tezcatlipoca.
Dervish collects as many as he can without raising suspicion…
The only magic Arcanum is able to sense nearby is the shadow energy of the portal and the lingering magic surrounding the Harrowing Haberdasher. If the mirror was here, it is no longer present.
"It's not here," Arcanum says after a moment. "See if you can get him to talk."
Drawn to the strange magic of the shadow portal, Wes floats toward it. He tries to get a sense of what it is and where it might lead to.
The Derby says, “Victory selfie while he’s out though. My aunt and cousin are probably worried.” She gestures toward her doll. ”No need for corny poses… Barbs can get the shot.”
“I’m in mourning,” she protests, but gets a picture anyway. “Done.”
There doesn't seem to be anything here that could help Arcanum locate the Eye--save for Perrot Hatrix himself, of course, if somebody can successfully interrogate him!
Unless someone demands a retake, DD sends the image to her aunt and cousin.
On the Cap Comm, ”Heyyyy, cousin! I take it you and your mom had no trouble with the kingpin? Haberdasher’s KO’d. I suspect he sold the mirror, though of course we’ll interrogate him.
“Just wanted to check in.”
As for the questioning, she suggests to her team, “How about we lug Perrot to a well-lit room? I imagine he can escape easily where there are shadows, which unfortunately… do exist in well-lit rooms.
“Magical lighting and me holding onto his hat might help.” And silently she admits, so will any advice from my aunt.
The Crass Crown replies to Darling Derby. "I wouldn't say no trouble, exactly. It was touch-and-go for awhile, but Panopticon is detained. And he's none too happy about it, of course. There's due process to keep in mind--we can keep him on ice for a short time, but without evidence of a crime to charge him with, we'll have to let him go, eventually."
The Bodacious Bowler chimes in. "Good job with the Haberdasher, Wendy, darling! But he's as slippery as an eel! Get what you need from him quickly, before he finds a way to escape."
Ziss is relieved when they managed to blast the shadow dragon, but also bummed when Wes points out that the mirror isn't here. She is about to suggest taking a look at the Haberdasher's diaries and the city map, but instead she finds herself drawn to the well of liquid shadow...
Ziss's eyes become black like the pool of shadows as she tunes out of this reality. Her consciousness feels like it's being drawn into the pool, swirling about before emerging in another place. She hops between worlds on a routine basis, but this feels like something else entirely. A completely different dimension, or plane of reality. The air is ice-cold, and all sounds are strangely muted. Strange, elongated shapes slink about on the edges of her vision, and winged things flap by in the darkness.
You should not be here, little girl, a chorus of voices seem to whisper. You will not find what you seek here. Only madness awaits.
There is a flash of light, and an image is burned into Ziss's retinas. The Haberdasher meeting with another man, his features concealed by shadows. This man grips an ornate cane and numerous talismans hang from his neck. The Haberdasher is offering the mirror to this man.
Then darkness clouds Ziss's eyes again, and when she blinks it away, she is standing back in the cave...
Ziss steps back from the pool, clearly scared about the whole experience... her chest going up and down in a fast pace. She turns to Wes, fearing the worse.
"Arcanum... would de Curator be a man wif an ornate cane and numerous talismans hanging from his neck? I just had a vision of de Haberdasher offering de mirror to dis man."
Dervish asks ”You guys all good? Yeah…you’re fine. You don’t need me around anyway,” he says before teleporting out.
"Yeah..." Wesley says as the color drains from his face. Rivers of icy fear run up and down his spine as the helplessness of his situation closes in on him. Wes had hoped that they could have stayed ahead of him. He thought that maybe they were making progress.
Instead, the Curator now had a means of spying on him. He thinks of the time Professor Braithwaite had been to his home while he'd been applying for the internship. Paranoid thoughts race through his mind. He'd had some comfort knowing that the Curator couldn't be everywhere. That rational assurance flees as images of a black eye in the sky dominate his imagination.
"Yeah, that's him," Wesley says, his voice cracking. The fear sets his insides twisting and writhing. He turns away from the others, pulling his cloak further over his head.
Wendy’s about to say no-wait-don’t to Dervish, but he yes-acts-does.
To Ziss’ words, she adds, “Honestly, Wes, that’s who I ran the program on when we heard about the mirror. It just sounds like something a curator would want, even a regular non-villainous one.
“It doesn’t lesson the shock, I get.” Jerking her thumb at the Haberdasher, she says, “Hey… maybe what makes our arch nemeses scariest is because we always thought in terms of facing them alone.
“Look what we do as a team!”
Wendy’s hand caresses Wes’ arm. She wants to pull his hood off, touch his cheek, get him to look at her… but she holds back. Now’s not the time to get cute.
Ziss moves around Wes so she can look at him. "We are a team." She simply says.
While her words might be seen as simply echoing Wendy's, Wes would know what they really mean and how invested Ziss was into helping him... and herself.
The Derby places her hat on the Haberdasher’s head. A long cable extends from her hat to her wrist.
She taps a Press-On. The Shock Brim gives a light jolt—not intended to harm Perrot. Just wake him.
His top hat is in the Derby’s hand.
“If I can guess who you’re working with in one try, how about you confirm? My aunt has no expectations about you going to prison.
“So cooperate, and conversation will be more interesting. And I’ll politely hand off you’re hat when we’re done.”
She makes no threat regarding the Shock Brim.
She doesn’t have to.
Perrot lets out a dark chuckle. "Ha! Li'l darlin' Wendy, puttin' on her mean face! It's quite a good one ya got there. Didn't figure a girl so young could be so 'ard already. But I'll play along wit' yer li'l guessin' game. So...guess who!"
“The Curator.
“I’d run an AI on him when I first heard of the artifact. Your involvement came as a surprise, if only because your powers negate the need. But now I know why I can never catch the Curator involved in the illegal. He gets others to steal for him. And not flunkies… he commissions the best of the best.”
She pauses.
“Meant to just guess the name. If it’s right, how’d I do on the rest?”
"'it the nail right on the 'ead!" Perrot says with another chuckle. "Got a big ol' brain in that li'l head o' yours, don'tcha?"
“I have to compensate for my lack of powers…”
In her anger and insecurity, especially over the setting sun casting long shadows (though she trusts Wes to keep light on her back), the Derby decides to get personal.
“…which makes me wonder which of us is more a misfit to the Hatrix family. Am I just an adopted girl, or a blood relative? No one tells me. And no one tells me where Perrot Hatrix is found on the family tree, as if the branch can be pruned.”
She slowly approaches the Harrowing Haberdasher.
“Who am I? Who are you? …who are we?”
Perrot's grin is as wide as the Cheshire Cat's. "I think ya already know the answer to that question, li'l darlin.' There's a reason yer dear auntie's never told ya, but no amount o' revisionist 'istory can change the truth."
He leans forward to whisper. "Ya really gonna make me quote ol' Darth Vader 'ere? Or can we skip the theatrical moment?"
Ziss moves around Wes so she can look at him. "We are a team." She simply says.
While her words might be seen as simply echoing Wendy's, Wes would know what they really mean and how invested Ziss was into helping him... and herself.
[dice=Comfort & Support]2d6-2
When she steps around to look, Ziss can see that Wesley's eyes are larger and framed by long dark lashes.
Those eyes are moist as she bites a lower lip that's become fuller and stained a bright shade of red. "I'm trying... this wasn't how I wanted to switch," Wes whispers.
She keeps her back to Wendy, not wanting her distracted. "I know we're a team, but... it's different with him. He's getting stronger, and I can't! Because if I do..."
She shakes her head. "I'm sorry. You're right, Wendy's right. We beat the Haberdasher no problem. Maybe there's hope." Wes pulls the cloak tighter around her and floats up into the sky.
Tumbler hangs back for the moment, woozy after her exertion of her powers. She really needed more time to practice those big moves because they were fairly taxing on her body.
She leans against Crimson Tide to rest while Derby and Ziss double team to try and get the Haberdasher to talk. Though it didn't take a genius to understand that this man was just doing a favor for another scumbag. One that they knew all too well.
"Well, if he's got the mirror already, I don't know we're capable of getting it back at this point," Tumbler says to Arcanum quietly. "He wouldn't be able to watch you everywhere with it though? Just places that he knows?"
The Derby is silent for a moment. It is the answer she expected. She wasn’t about to quote Luke with a long sustained ‘no.’
She yanks her own hat back onto her head, and hands the Haberdasher his.
”Prove it, dad.”
She takes a running leap off the cliff to see if her father would save his daughter.
The Haberdasher's eyes widen as Wendy suddenly leaps off of the cliff. "B#&@+#~s!" he curses as he dives after her! Shadows trail from the brim of his hat, propelling him forward until he catches up with Wendy and wraps his arms around her. Then a shadow portal opens below the pair, depositing them back atop the cliff, where they come to a crash landing.
"What the 'ell was that? If all yer friends jumped off a cliff, would you do that, too? Eh?!? It's a wonder ye 'aven't got yerself killed already, pullin' a dangerous stunt like that!"
“I had a hang glider in my backpack. Just needed to see if you cared.
“Barbs. Stop recording. We’re done here.”
When the doll stops, she says, “We’re not done. I want the Curator. You have my word, your betrayal won’t be known to him. But admit you’re proud of me… enough to give me one thing. Just one thing…”
She types a text on her Notes App and shows her father.
There’s an exchange, either in whispers or perhaps some shadowy form of communication. In any case, the Harrowing Haberdasher vanishes leaving behind swirls of black.
After they dissipate, Wendy looks up. “Wes! I need you…” Her words are choked by emotion, though she seems to be holding herself together for the most part.
Wesley floats above the scene, hoping the wind in the voluminous folds of her cloak hides her reduced frame. She struggles against the fear clutching her heart, but can't seem to switch back. He feels weak, exposed, vulnerable, and somehow that's keeping him a her. Or is it something else?
Wendy's voice calling for Wes did nothing to help, only heaped a pile of anxieties upon him. Of course she'll be happy the Jinn is back, but again it wasn't Wes's choice. That fact twists the knife even further and she feels a strong urge to flee.
That's not... I can't do that to her. She faced her nemesis. Listen to her voice. She needs you... and this is the way she wants you.
Wesley slowly floats back down, still keeping her back to Wendy. She pulls back her hood as she turns around. "So, this happened..." she says softly in her musical voice.
She blinks when she sees Wendy's face. "What-- what is it?"