The Darling Derby gives Diego her location, including her room number at the hospital. Visiting hours are 7-8 PM PST, but she asks Diego to call up on the Ear Buddy to make sure she’s awake if he comes over later.
When Tumbler hands the bag off, it's partially unzipped. The shark girl notices a tennis bracelet disappearing into her sleeve!
Huh.
***
Megan quietly eats about half of a small gelato (the darkest, bitterest chocolate they have). She smiles along with Ziss's anecdote, blanches when her Lil Ziss explains what Japanese/Razzaran people look like, ("That thing with the eyes is rude to do on Earth, Lil," but mostly she thinks.
Eventually she's turned the bracelet over in her head enough, and she asks Carmen, "Why'd you take the bracelet, Tumbles? 'S far as I can figure, stealing it when we're giving it back isn't really any better than stealing it right out of the store, and that's all we were running Chrome down for.
"I think I'm sposed to just go to the Team Leader or someone about this, but that means Derbs, and that sounds annoying, so I figured I'd just ask. You're smart. You know you can't just steal from people and be a hero."
The Derby has just her hat on and an em-bare-ass-ing hospital johnny that looks sufficiently modest from a front view.
She sits in a demure pose once the already-recording camera is propped. (She’ll edit out the walking and start/stopping the camera before posting.) All four limbs are wrapped in three kinds of bandages, including a PowerPuff Girls bandaid on her left knee.
”Heyyyy, Bay Watchers”—it’s what she calls her team’s fans (starting just now)—“Darling Derby here in the pediatric ward. There are some sick and injured little boys and girls here in much greater need than me. So if you’re worried, don’t be! All I did is ruin any hope of tanning my pasty-whiteness. Gonna cover up in tights and princess gloves for a bit. Maybe my cousin’ll let me raid her wardrobe.
“Don’t let the whole family feud thing mislead ya. Love ya, Crass Crown, and you know it!”
Her video ends with a darling smile. The ‘ohhhh f+~~’ as she limped to turn her camera off was cropped, and the unedited video is permanently deleted.
Her social media post includes a close-up of her bandaided knee with the caption Buttercup FTW! and a photo montage of her visiting other child patients.
Ziss raises her eyebrows as Megan informs she was being rude. "Oh! Did not know dat. Will not do dis again. Tanks for telling me, Megan."
She isn't surprise at Tumbler stealing the bracelet. She herself have stolen things... more than once... actually more times than she could recall, though she decided to remain silent, hiding this for now.
---
Later, Ziss tries to make a video call with Wendy...
Oh, oh, oh!
Wendy excitedly props her phone back up. Same demure pose sitting on the bed, carefully angled because she’s kinda really sure the back of her johnny flaps open unflatteringly.
“Heyyyy, Princess! How are things? You guys have a victory party without me?”
Ziss shakes her head, smiling. "We had ice cream, but no party. Too few people I fink, and to few 'Wendys' also."
She looks worried at Wendy. "How are you? Need somefing? Food? Heard dat hospital food is bad! Assuming it is bad in taste, not in 'bad for you', because dat would not make any sense..."
“Yeah… we are spoiled by the gourmet fembot!” She reaches over to grab something off-camera, then she leans toward the camera arms outstretched. A plate with a wobbly red blob rises into view. “Jello! It’s like ice cream, but room temperature. The red kind is cough drop flavored!
“Oh, but don’t bring food. I don’t wanna look like a spoiled rich kid. Getting hospitalized is great publicity for our team, whereas being too snobby to eat what I’m served will destroy everything we built.
“If you wanna visit, bring me nothing more than hugs.”
"I could bring cheap food! Dat kind dat we buy from street vendors and dat makes us wish to die later, even if dey are delicious." She offers smiling and joking.
About 10 minutes later, Wendy will hear a thumping on her window, and soon Ziss's face as she is standing on her hoverboard sideways, Ryx on her shoulder, and a boiled corn on her hand.
Once she is let in, Ziss raises her hand, knowing she had brought food against Wendy's wishes. "It is for Ryx! You can keep eating your goo!" She gives Ryx to Wendy, since she has already got used to her, allowing Wendy to enjoy her fluffy belly.
"So... is it... OH MY!" She exclaims as she drops the corn on the floor, caught completely by surprise of Wendy's butt, not knowing about hospital johnnies. She blushes as she knees to pick the corn back.
The open window brings in a gust of wind! DD grabs the front of her johnny to hide her front, but as she turns she feels a draft from behind. ”Eep?”
She sits on her bed and gladly holds Jyx and rubs her belly.
“The doctor says I can’t do one-arm push-ups tonight. I had to put a sheet on the floor to do burpees… glad Diego didn’t teleport in unexpectedly at that moment.
“But I’m not in any pain. They just wanna make sure I don’t get an infection.” There’s more to overnight stay than that, but Wendy doesn’t want to worry Ziss.
Tumbler is in the middle of a bite of her raspberry chocolate gelato when Megan confronts her straight up about the tennis bracelet. "What? I..." She seems like she's ready to spin a story, before stopping herself. "...Ugh. You're right." She slips the bracelet out of her sleeve, dropping it onto the table.
"I saw an opportunity, and I just went for it. That's how you get ahead on the other side. You don't pass up what comes your way. And I was justifying it in my head, saying 'they'll just think it was dropped and lost in the chase' or 'the jeweler is insured against this kind of thing, no one's getting hurt'. I mean that's all true, but it's not why I did it. There's a thrill to it. It's exciting. The way you get excited for a good fight," She explains to Megan.
She sighs, before pushing the bracelet towards the Bull. "And when I'm feeling a little anxious, or angry, or complicated, lifting something someone wouldn't probably miss anyways helps to clear my head. If you want to turn it in to the police, that's fine. I don't need it."
"Dat is true..." Ziss agrees with Tumbler. "Many times, when you have nofing, you do need to steal. I did it many times after I've lost my moder... and it can be quite exciting." She confesses, aware that this is not 'right'.
"Dese were stolen..." She says about her powerful gloves. "... from a gang in Razzara. It was a prototype and I'm glad I did it, because it was a bad gang. I just steel from bad people dough..." She says, this time to Megan, fearing she might judge her harshly.
"I have no idea of what a burpee is." She says and then opens her eyes wide open when she mentions infections... however, since Wendy doesn't appear to be worried, she realizes she is not meaning the nasty monsters that grow inside one's bellies and then burst through it a couple days later.
"So Diego did not show up yet?" She asks, both judgemental and glad. "He doesn't seem to care too much about de team now dat he knows de girls are not into him. Dis is not your fault."
Wendy notes the accusatory tone, but given the steps she’s begun taking with Ziss yesterday, she minds her tone.
“I’ll give him time, Ziss. Hopefully he won’t arrive for the next hour or so. It’s best I talk to him alone… and then there’s my selfish motive. I want to relax with just you and Jyx for a while.”
She cracks a smile. It’s as if she is in no physical pain at all, and definitely, she’s enjoying Ziss’ company and Jyx in her lap. There does seem to be some bottled up anger—surely not directed at anyone in the room.
But there’s another emotion concealed by the practiced selfie-face: insecurity. Even Ziss thinks I can’t control my team. Well, duh..it’s not just Diego! Wesley’s pissed at me, Meg thinks I’m weak, Carmen picked my cousin over me…
Megan's brows knit as Ziss starts throwing up a lot of chaff in the way of what she was asking Locke. "Yeah, but she just said she didn't need to take this one. Stealing from people is like hitting them. Just cause some people sometimes need to do it to survive, and just 'cause there's bad people you should do it to, doesn't mean you should just do it because it's fun and you're pretty sure you'll get away with it."
She takes the diamonds and tucks them into her top. "Scratchy. I'll bring 'em back for you. 'S not like I want anyone adding two and two together and derailing your spot on the team. But I get it. If the fighting wasn't part of the whole hero thing, that'd be a real hard thing to give up. Just tag me in or someone when you need to take the off, okay? Second chances are great, and you've earned one, but getting one doesn't mean you get to coast."
Tumbler looks thoughtful at Megan's words. "It's not as easy as just flipping a switch. It's an itch, like someone who wants a cigarette or needs to ante into a card game. It's not to survive - well, not for a long time," She adds to Ziss. "I want, I need to scratch that itch sometimes, and my normal activities working for Bay City's worst often filled that role. Now I'm out on this side, and it builds up. But, I'll try to stay clean. Thief's honor."
"...On another note, you know you stuffed like, ten grand of jewelry into your top, right?" She asks, mostly to try and lighten the mood here. "Granted, that doesn't break my top five most expensive items hidden in my clothing. You won't believe where number four was hidden," She said with a wink.
Ziss nods to Megan. "You speak de truf." But she also sympathizes with Tumbler. She knows this itch she mentioned, since she feels the same... just in her case it probably itches less. "I know what you are talking about Tumbler... I fink I feel it to. Like, I like to collect new toys, like dat sea lion speaking fing."
As Tumbler winks, Ziss points to her eye, joking. "In your eye?"
Megan puts on a mock-offended face. "Don't judge the boob-pocket. Judge the people charging ten grand for the shiny rocks. Besides, diamonds are murder on a phone screen and I have only one pocket in this wetsuit. But that's what I'm talking about, when that urge is building up, you've just gotta find a better way to scratch it. That's why I do so much surfing, and volleyball, and rollerskating, and... well you get the idea."
Wesley grinds his teeth but forces a more pleasant expression onto his face when the phone is tilted in his direction. "Um, hi! I... just got done thwarting another villain and couldn't help notice you weren't in danger this time... so... how are you?" S$$ s+@ s#+$! I am so bad at this!!!
DD gives an off-camera thumbs up.
Ashley smiles, her eyes sparkling with excitement. ”Good! I’m good! Yep, no danger right now...”
"Yeah, good to hear. Yeah. I'm, uh, dropping Derby off and then... like she said... I'm free for a little while."
”The whooooole dayyyy!” DD yells from off camera.
”It’s so nice of you to take the Darling Derby to the hospital. I’m free, too. Do you want to, like, get a coffee or something?”
"That sounds like a good idea. Yeah. >ahem< Yes. How about the Java-teque on Hyperion Drive? Is that close to you?"
”Sure! I’ll see you there in an hour? Can’t wait!” Ashley giggles and gives a little wave.
He smiles helplessly back. When the call ends, he turns to Derby and hisses, "You were supposed to text!!"
”You’re welcome.”
Wesley shakes his head vigorously. "No, this is not the kind of favor someone does to help them! You're deliberately shoving me at this girl, who doesn't even know or care that I'm a guy who goes to her school, and we're supposed to have coffee which is like a euphemism... and I'm not talking to you anymore!"
DD sighs. “You asked me to text her. Think of it, Arcanum. If the girl has her instinct on medium-alert, a text from me—a person to whom she did not give her number—should be ignored and deleted, and perhaps her phone should be assumed compromised. That last bit’s high-alert maybe. Lines are blurred.
“Arcanum, I was hoping to spare the lecture but you obviously need it.” There is no mischief on DD’s face. She is dead serious when she says, “You will never contact that girl via text and you must tell her so. It’s video every time, private Ear-Buddies if things get serious.
“Any villain can hack her phone, make a text appear to be from you, even get that AI to simulate your syntactic patterns, overused idioms, emoji preferences… you get that I program fembots. I know my s++*.
“Every contact she needs to hear your voice and see your face. Do you get me?”
Wesley looks chagrined. He had a nemesis out there, so who knows what sort of trick he might pull. "That's a very good point. I didn't think of that. Thank you."
Wesley dumps Derby off at the ER, and then flies off. He works his mind up into a lather while he drifts across the city towards the coffee place he chose. He knew it well enough since he put in an application there once but didn't get hired on. They called him back after a few weeks, but by then he'd already landed the internship at the museum.
He floats down out of the sky, landing nearby. What the hell am I doing? he asks himself over and over.
Arcanum can see Ashley through the window of the coffee shop. She's watching the door and appears to be both excited and nervous!
Wesley takes a few centering breaths as he tries to think of ways that he could be both himself and this hero that Ashley has a crush on. Dammit. I'm just going to have to go in there. He goes in, meets her eyes and waves.
Ashley waves excitedly! "You actually came! Hi!"
Other customers murmur excitedly at the arrival of a superhero!
Wesley smiles despite himself. He looks to see if she's already bought herself a coffee. If she's got one in front of her, he points towards the counter. If not, he motions for her to join him in line. Crap! I've just got my credit card!!
Ashley joins Arcanum in line as a few customers snap photos of the pair together. "It's nice to see you again. Will Darling Derby be okay?"
Wesley tries to obscure Ashley's face from the pictures with his energy aura, now feeling extra paranoid thanks to DD's advice. "I'm sure she will be, thanks for asking." He glances up at the menu board, trying to decide the appropriate coffee for a superhero.
Ashley orders a mocha latte! She waits for Arcanum to make his choice.
"Cappuccino, I think. With a little cinnamon."
The barista quickly fills the orders, and soon enough Ashley and Arcanum are seated at the table with their drinks.
Ashley sips her latte and studies the cloaked hero thoughtfully. She seems to be waiting for him to say something
Wesley fights his urge to fall silent and make it uncomfortable. "So, good to see you again, and under much better circumstances." Lame! Lame! Lame!
He feels the eyes of the rest of the coffee shop's patrons on them. "I might be drawing a lot of attention here. Would you like to take these to go?"
Ashley looks around and nods. "Sure, let's take a walk."
All right. This is immediately better, Wesley thinks. He guides her towards one of the green spaces and pedestrian walkways so they only have to dodge bicyclers and dog walkers rather than vehicles.
"So, tell me about Ashley Mills. What do you enjoy doing? What do you study?"
"Oh, you know," Ashley says with a shy smile. "I'm kind of a science nerd. I want to go pre-med once I start college, but I'm not sure what specialization I want to pursue yet. As for my hobbies, well, hanging out at the beach, obviously. I do yoga and meditation, too. Kind of on a whole mindfulness kick right now."
She sips her latte. "What about you? What do you do when you're not fighting bad guys and stuff?"
"Well, I practice. I try to use my powers smarter, rather than just overwhelming the bad guys. I'm already probably too flashy." He takes a swing of his own drink.
"I should probably take a class or two on yoga myself." He ventures a smile.
"Well, I'd be happy to teach you a few beginner poses sometime," Ashley replies.
Wesley tries to keep images of Ashley in yoga pants bending and stretching out of his mind. "Uh, yeah. I'd like that." He takes another sip, wishing he'd opted for a cold drink.
He bravely looks at her again, hoping his cheeks weren't too red. "So, a mindfulness kick. That's like living in the moment, being self-aware, right?"
Ashley nods. "That's right. All too often, I find myself worrying about things that I've done in the past or what might happen in the future. It's hard for me to focus on the here and now and just enjoy the present. So, I'm trying to be better about that."
Wesley finishes his cappuccino and tosses the cup into a trash can. "That's a good mindset," he admits. Parts of his mind start yammering about his own worries and he deliberately ignores those voices. "So, in the here and now, what would you like to do? Do you want to, um, fly?"
"Is that even a question? Of course I want to fly!" Ashley says excitedly.
Grinning stupidly despite himself, he picks her up off the ground with his telekinesis and catches her in his arms. Then the two of them lift off into the air. Forming a bubble around them to keep the wind from getting too strong, he picks up speed until they're racing across the sky.
Ashely whoops and laughs with joy. She wraps her arms around Arcanum, holding him tightly as the two fly through the air!
Wesley draws a vicarious thrill from Ashley's delight. He also feels her closeness and the scent of her hair as it whips in the wind. But he also gets an idea. "You want to fly on your own? Let go, I'll keep you in the air."
Wesley can feel Ashley's heart beating fast in her chest. "Are you sure? Okay... Don't drop me!" Slowly, Ashley eases her grip on Arcanum and lets go!
For a couple moments, he keeps a reassuring hand on Ashley's back as he lets his telekinesis hold her aloft. He then lets go and flies alongside her, staying in tandem through some banks and turns.
Ashley's expression is one of pure joy as Bay City streams past far below.
Wesley orients them toward one of the cliffs overlooking the beaches and flies them in that direction. When the reach a remote overlook point, he lands first on the rocks and catches her out of the air. "You're a natural," he says.
Ashley stumbles to a stop beside Arcanum, breathing heavily. "Well.. I had a... good teacher!"
Wesley holds out his hands to steady her. "That wasn't too much, was it?"
"No... just need to... catch my breath!"
He guides her to the edge of the cliff and helps her sit down. Then he takes a seat next to her, his feet dangling over the edge. "Take your time."
Eventually, Ashley recovers from the flight. She sits down beside Arcanum. "This has been, like, the coolest day of my life... Thank you."
That statement catches Wesley off-guard, and he mentally debates about how to respond. "You're welcome," he rather brilliantly arrives at. He studies her face as he responds, memorizing her bright expression.
The sunlight shines in her bright blue eyes.
She reaches out to take his hand as they sit and watch the surf.
Wesley takes her hand and enjoys the moment.
The two teenagers try to live in the moment as long as it will last. But unfortunately, like all moments, it eventually must come to an end...
Ashley lets out a soft sigh. "Well, it's getting late. We should probably start heading back."
"Yeah. I'll fly you home, or wherever you need me to take you." He scoops her up in a princess-carry and takes off.
Soon enough, the pair land outside of Ashley's house. She leans in and kisses Wesley's cheek. "Thanks again for an amazing day! You have my number, so dont be afraid to use it! I hope I'll see you again soon!"
Ashley's mention of her phone number reminds him. "Oh! That reminds me. Video chat only. Um, Derby told me. Phone numbers can be hacked. If you just get a text supposedly from me... don't respond. Voice too. Video is harder to duplicate, so... yeah. That's why. If this..." he points back and forth between the two of them, "goes, um, further."
Wow, Wes, way to end on a smooth note.
"Oh. Yeah, sure thing! Good thinking."
Ashley smiles and waves. "See you later, Arcanum!"
"See you later, Ashley Mills!" he responds, hoping that doesn't sound stupid. He flies off, deciding not to look at her expression in case it did.
Ziss snuggles besides Wendy, with Jyx on her lap, and takes her new phone from a pocket, looking for the InfitiTube. Ziss has been obsessed with it for the last week. "So, what do you want to see? Funny animals, funny babies, or people doing dumb fings?" She enjoys her time with Wendy, though leaves soon enough to give Wendy her time to whoop Diego's ass.
"So I just need to have hobbies that aren't related to thievery?" She confers with Megan. "That's...going to be difficult. But I suppose somewhat manageable. I suppose I could just buy things I want..."
She finishes her gelato, looking at Ziss. "That's a secret," She says with a smile on her hiding place. "But the Piper's device is honestly not something I would consider to be useful. Sure, those sea lions can be scary when everyone's crowded around, but it's really a specific use item. And I'm not even sure if it can be used for that without the Piper's knowledge of the device? Lots of tech looks simpler to use than it really is for someone who didn't build or train with it."
“Just you,” Wendy replies. She puts an arm around Ziss and strokes Jyx with her other hand. She doesn’t pay attention to the infinitube.
Only Ziss’ laugh makes the videos fun.
After gulping down a pill, the nurse who gave it to her says, “No more vlogging. You need your beauty sleep, kid.”
Holmesian deduction leads to the obvious conclusion: That’s not a pro-or-antibiotic. It’s a sedative! F&%~! F+*&!!
Wendy blasts the rambling nasally voice of John Linnell directly into her ears to stay awake.
♫…when you think of that
You hurt your mind
And you'll need a friend
To talk you down…♫
She stands in front of the mirror.
”F&#%!
“I need this brain—drug free, drug f@&$ing free! What don’t they get?!”
She glares at the reflection, breathing, seething…
♫…Turning to drugs to help you sleep
Will only lead to sleep…♫
Her fist slowly clenches—
♫…And sleeping is a gateway drug
To being awake…♫
—Wendy slugs herself in the gut—
♫…being awake…♫
—harder!—
♫…being awake again…♫
—HARDER!
Wendy doubles over, vomiting bright red jello, collapsing on her side, coughing, gagging, swearing, crying, hands fumbling, panicking!
“F%%%, f%!~, f@%~! Jello’s translucent, how the f~&@—?!”
Somewhere in her regurgitated dessert is that f+~#ing brain-cell-eating pill! She did NOT beat herself up for nothing!
She did not…
Embedded in odorous red chunks is the pill. Desperate fingers clench it, drop it into the toilet, flush it to where s*+! belongs.
She washes her hands, sprays away the horrible smell from the room, her hands. She keeps spraying and spraying, clears away the stench, clears her insecurity, clears herself of that evil drug.
Drugs…
♫…hurt your mind
And you'll need your mind
For later on ♫
♫ Needing a mind for later on
Is a friend that comes at a price
But when you hate the friend
That comes at a price
You will—
The tune is interrupted as her Ear Buddy alerts her to a call. “Diego… f#%@, f~++!”
She accepts the call.
Ziss picks her phone, making a wait sign, since her mouth is still full of gelato. After a couple clicks and swipes, she shows Tumbler a video recorded by one of the bystanders that they rescued from the sea lions, showing Ziss dancing with to the beat of an alien song and a couple sea lions dancing with her. "Who said anyfing about being useful? It is fun and it works!"
Wesley goes home.
In stark contrast to the rich, colorful and vibrant interior of his lamp, his parents' home is a sterile affair. Whites and soft greys, clean lines, and modern furnishings, along with a truly stunning view of the coastline, mean it is not an unpleasant place. It just is... cold.
His parents are having one of their few meals together, although they are focused not on each other, but the electronic devices propped next to their plates. They barely acknowledge Wesley as he enters and heads to his room.
He felt good... for a while. Then the voices started up again. Did he really like this girl? Ashley liked Arcanum, not Wesley. He showed off his powers, she liked it when he flew her around. Who wouldn't? He could pick up anyone off the street, give them a joy ride, and probably have them in the same state as Ashley. If that was true, why should he be so concerned about whether anyone liked Wesley? The Curator chose well; he was a non-entity. Forgettable. No one who'll be missed.
Just forget about being Wesley. You can be Arcanum from now on. At least until... you're not him either.
Megan laughs and crowds in closer to watch the video. "That's awesome Lil Ziss. And dancing's basically the only way you can get those things to be honest." With a murderously self-pleased grin she points to the screen. "Otherwise, See? Lyin'."
Ziss genuinely laughs at Megan's joke, even if she knows it is bad. "Most people can make people laugh wif a good joke, but only masters can do de same wif a bad one."
"You are a master, Megan, and I love dis about you!" She says, now really cheered, giving Megan a side hug.
”You up?” Diego’s voice says through the comm.
There is a pause… only a few seconds, but definitely a pause. “I’m up,” she finally replies, a little too intensely. “Don’t slip in the jello.”
Wendy thinks (this time) to sit in her bed, propped up, covers past the waist of her assless johnny. The scented spray should pass for hospital-sterile.
She looks over at the red chunks on the floor by the mirror.
”Can you like, go to a window and wave or something?” he asks.
She replies after a few more seconds, “Window’s open. Look for flickering lights.”
Wendy turns her light on and off from the bed.
Diego replies ”Chica, you know the sun is setting and shining right on the windows right? Aaaaah, nevermind. Hang on a sec…”
A moment later you hear a woman scream! Then a moment later, Diego appears in a puff of crimson. ”Anyone asks, I been here a while, right!?!?” he says with a half snicker.
Wendy gives Diego a serious look. She removes her glasses.
“I’m not mad. I’m disappointed.”
She lets silence linger as her brown eyes stare Diego right in the soul.
—and just as he’s about to speak, she cracks a slight smile.
“Now that that’s out of the way, was she nice? Second date on the way?—off the clock of course.”
Diego gets a “Seriously?” look on his face. Then she asks her question and he shrugs ”I dunno. She was okay. Dunno about second date. Got her number. We’ll see.”
He has a seat on the side of Wendy’s bed. ”I see you didn’t take my advice about watching out for Numero Uno. What’s you go and do?”
Now Wendy has a ‘seriously’ face.
She raises her bandaged arms. “Fell.” She looks quite proud—a bit on edge, but whatever anger she’s bottling up is not directed at Diego.
”Did you see my Infinigram post? This is great publicity! I visited children, buncha little fans—super cute pics!”
He shakes his head. ”Naw. Had to make a pit stop in Grand Cayman.”
He reaches into the little satchel at his side and retrieves a beautiful shell, handing it to Wendy.
Wendy squees and gladly accepts the shell.
“Ohhhh, I thought outing myself would mean the end of this flirtatious behavior! It’s beautiful.
“Hey, before I forget—dating policy for supers. Always make a video call, no texting. It’s not safe for a civilian to answer to your texts.
“With you and Wesley both dating civilians, maybe I should ask my aunt to spring for secure private lines. Maybe Daphne already got one for Carmen… am I a jerk for not asking her how the date went?”
”Wow…you really think I’m that shallow. Good to know,” Diego replies. ”And who said I was dating her? Sure, I showed her a good time. But there may be nothing more than that.”
He shrugs and stands as Wendy asks her last question. ”How would I know. Apparently I’m too shallow to worry about that s$*~…” he answers with his back turned as he takes a step away from the bed towards the window.
Wendy rolls her eyes in a s+~*-not-again way. “Wow… second time in a row my joke made a guy angry.
“I don’t think you’re shallow. I think it’s wonderful you can travel the world…”
She thinks for a moment … considers whether there are reasons she should not voice the question on her mind… within seconds, confirms there are many compelling reasons not to ask, “Do you still want to take me someplace?”
Dervish looks over his shoulder. ”Maybe when you’re feeling better. Rest up, chica. I’ll see ya around.”
And in a crimson flash, he’s gone.
***
The Darling Derby is discharged from the hospital with a set of fresh bandages and a prescription for painkillers. The doctors suggest she try to rest as well. But there is rarely rest for a superhero in Bay City...
While calibrating the supercomputer in the Bay Watchmen’s base, a strange spike of otherworldly energy was detected in one of the city’s parks. The energy spike was followed by a severe drop in the local temperature and emergency calls beginning to pour in. Gathering the team together, you rush to check it out!
It doesn’t take long to discover the anomaly. A shimmering oval portal, perhaps ten feet tall and seven feet wide, has opened in the center of the park. Snow is piled in a wide radius around the portal, and icy winds and more snow blow out through the opening. Through the snow, you can catch glimpses of a neon-drenched city in the distance.
Ziss know at once what you are looking at. Razzara.
A few moments after you arrive, a pair of hulking cyborgs hop through the portal, their metallic feet crunching the soft snow beneath them. The cyborgs are armor-plated humanoids that stand seven feet tall, with demonic faces and glowing red eyes. They grip huge spiked clubs as they survey their surroundings.
Upon spotting Ziss, their eyes burn brighter and they brandish their clubs. One speaks in a harsh metallic voice as he points at the Nomad.
The two cyborgs rush forward to attack!
Dervish watches the pair approach from a reasonable distance, gauging the approaching cyborgs and their tech…
As Arcanum flies toward the threat, he charges up his powers to get ready to do battle!
DD’s outfit is a plaid skirt, matching tie, Hatrix family blazer, leather fingerless gloves, dark brown tights, and her usual hat, specs and skates.
Seeing her sister is the target, the Darling Derby Jet-Sets and flying kicks a borg—
“Here to welcome me to the club?”
“‘Cause yoink!”
Dervish thinks they could end this quickly if they can shove the cyborgs back through the portal and figure out how to close it. The weapons they are wielding could be valuable, as well as any parts he could scavenge if the cyborgs are destroyed and dismantled.
Crimson Tide's eyes shine with pure joy against the pure black. "Lil Ziss, you are my absolute favorite."
With bounding steps, Crimson Tide rushes forward to meet the cyborgs, ducking her shoulder low as she puts on the gas to sprint beneath the sweep of the left one's kanabo, surging back up to break its stance, then with an unpleasantly fast twist, she grabs it by ankle and armpit and hurls it further into the park. Slapping aside the other's club blow with a laugh, she hurtles after the first cyborg with glee.
"Mishima-han wa meiyo o shiranainode, meiyo ni tsuite hanasu koto wa dekimasen. Watashi wa anata ga fusawashikunai mono o anata kara tōzakeru koto ni yotte seigi ni tsukaemasu." Ziss answers as she powers her gloves and gets ready to face a hated foe.
"Dese are cyborgs from de Mishima clan of Razzara... I do not know how dey've found me, but dey are very dangerous, and very bad!"
Dervish teleports over beside Crimson Tide. ”We need to push them back through the portal. Lemme help you with, chica!” he says before teleporting over beside the nearest one to her. He then grabs it by the arm and says ”Come with me, boyo!” before teleporting again, this time directly beside the portal! He then grabs its weapon and adds ”Mind if I borrow this?” before teleporting away again!
Tumbler looks on in surprise, but decides to take the offense to these freaks - they're using a lot of metal, and odds were good that those clubs at least had a healthy amount of iron or steel in their construction, along with their armor. She reaches out with one hand, seizing what she could get a grip on with her power before yanking it free!
Derby dashes in to attack one of the cyborgs, wrestling its spiked club away from it. It lashes out with its free hand, grabbing Wendy by the throat and holding her aloft! Its metal fingers squeeze her windpipe!
Luckily, Crimson Tide rushes in to take advantage of its distracted focus. She plows into the cyborg, which releases Wendy as the burly shark girl knocks it through several trees and benches before finally hurling it into a wooden gazebo, which shatters on impact! As it gets back to its feet, it hurls a metallic orb into the air. The orb hovers and issues forth a cage of burning lasers, trapping Crimson Tide and the cyborg within and cutting off the others from coming to Megan's aid!
Well, mostly everybody. Dervish teleports into the laser cage, grabs the cyborg, and teleports back out. Wendy has already taken its spiked club, but Dervish manage to grab the rest of its minor technological gadgets and teleport away again before it strikes back.
Tumbler reaches out with her ferrokinesis, ripping the armor plates off of the damaged and bamboozled cyborg in front of the portal. With a shove of her abilities, she hurls the cyborg back through the portal, where it lies still in the snow, smoke rising from its damaged systems.
Ziss takes a moment to assess the situation. There are no bystanders to worry about, thankfully, so the person that's in the greatest danger right now would be herself, as the remaining cyborg wants to capture or kill her! Her sharp eyes spot a jade lion figurine buried in the snow that has spilled forth from the portal. It's similar to the focus she uses to worldwalk to Razzara. She could likely reverse the polarity of the portal with it and seal the gateway.
But first, she's going to have to deal with the remaining cyborg which is dashing toward her! It moves so quickly that its body seems to blur, swinging its club in powerful arcs!
Wendy is unaffected by the throat grab, it seems. Perhaps her school uniform tie is made of a protective material, perhaps her athletic build makes her tougher than she looks.
In any case, she’s ready to club duel for her Zisster!
“Eight years of Little Ladies’ League, asshoIe! Outta the park—!”
She tries to hit the enemy home!
Dervish appears in the cage with Meg. ”Come on, chica. A beauty like you can’t be caged, unless they wanna be!” he says with a wink before teleporting her out and directly beside the last cyborg. He then pops over and collects the second weapon before smirking and popping over with it and taking a home-run swing with it at its head before teleporting back and out of its reach!
Ziss knew those cyborgs pretty well and she was aware that a single swing of that club would be strong enough to at best break her bones and at worst kill her, but how was this one so fast? She could not escape this time and a single tear was already rolling through her cheek when she gets hit, causing her to hover back until she hits a tree! It takes a couple seconds for Ziss to catch her breath again as she clutches her chest, not understanding how she was still alive until she notices Wendy and Dervish fighting the cyborg, one each holding the clubs.
Ziss looks around, taking a hold of all the devastation around her, and all of this was just because of her.
Shaking her head, Ziss hovers forward and grabs the jade figurine. She focus for a bit, trying to use what she learnt with the monks to center herself. "Push it trough de portal! I'll close it!" She yells to the others.
Ziss gets down from her hoverboard and it quickly slides and attaches to her back, while she sits on the ground, her legs crossed. She closes her eyes, trusting the others will be able to deal with the cyborg. The figurine nestled in her hands, she focus and focus, and soon the portal is flickering, the temperature instantly becoming warmer... Ziss's image, however, also appears to flicker, as if she was connecting herself to the portal, tuning herself to the in-between... if the portal closes, will Ziss be gone to?
"Right!" Arcanum says, taking the cue from Ziss. He lands right in front of the two cyborgs and pushes with all his telekinetic might!
Tumbler feels a little better from tossing the one cyborg back through the portal. However, she also notes Megan struggling with the cage, Arcanum landing in front of the cyborgs to try and push them through - and she's fairly certain that the one still standing is trying to grab him!
"No!" She rushes forward, trying to keep Arcanum safe by hurling the cyborg back before it can get him...
...only to realize too late it had already latched onto Arcanum before she sent it flying with him back through the closing portal!
"Nonononononono!"
Derby takes the second cyborg’s club and starts bashing at it. It kicks at her in response.
Dervish and Arcanum move to support the team leader with purloined club and telekinetic might. The cyborg begins to give ground as Ziss begins to close the portal. The gateway flickers and wavers—
—but Arcanum is too close, and the cyborg wraps its arms around him! Tumbler realizes this fact too late as her ferrokinesis hurls both Wesley and the enemy through the portal just as Ziss finishes her ritual! The portal winks out, severing the connection to Razzara and trapping Arcanum on the far side!
The jade figurine shatters in Ziss’s hands. As the weight of what just happened settles over you, you catch a glimpse of something gleaming in the snow. A brass oil lamp. It must have fallen out of Arcanum’s pack!
The Darling Derby blocks the kick by forming an X with both clubs! One club bonks the other, and the other bonks the brim of Derby’s hat.
This is the closest she’s come to unscathed but…
”Oh… OH, WES—ARCUN—S+&!!”
…she picks up the lamp. In her mind, rubbing it is a last resort.
Overconfident. Stupid and reckless. Going toe-to-toe with an alien oni cyborg, Arcanum realized too late how careless he was being, trusting that his powers were limitless. Doubt suddenly crept into his mind and he faltered at the worst possible time.
He was grabbed by the cyborg, and before he could do anything, they were both falling through the portal.
He felt ripped apart, torn away from his vessel, his home, his font of power (his prison). It was too much, and he screamed.
Oh no. They're going to blame me. They're going to send me to jail. Tumbler mind races as she turns towards Ziss holding the remnants of the jade figurine in one hand. She skids down onto her knees in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulder. "Ziss! You can get us to Razzara, right? We're not going to just leave him there!" She says, frantic and looking at Dervish next.
"You can teleport anywhere - can you teleport there? Bring him back? Something?" She pleads, trying to figure out what she could possibly do here. "I'll get you your damn shopping trip, just...we have to get him back!"
Wendy has tears streaking down her face. Her demeanor is otherwise calm. Focused. “Think carefully, Tumbler… I’m already forming a plan. The computer at our base can analyze things. The club, Ziss’ gloves, this lamp… snow…”
She then gives Tumbler quiet time to think. Tell me what I’m missing, Tumbler…
Tumbler looks over at Derby, holding back her own despair at the moment - and then her eyes lock onto the lamp. And Derby can see in the Reformed eyes a flicker of recognition. "Where did you get that?" She asks, leaving Ziss and walking over to their leader. "That's a magical artifact...is it Arcanum's?" She asks, looking confused but hopeful.
"Okay, maybe if we were to try to use it...um, like in the stories, you say a magic phrase, or twist off the top or rub it on the spout, and maybe Arcanum's been hiding some genie that can bring him back, or just get us over to Razzara," She suggests, reaching out for the lamp.
The Darling Derby says, “Okay… you’re right. This is Arcanum’s lamp. I’ve held it before. I’ve been inside. It’s beautiful …but there’s a catch.
“I don’t have like a number or anything, but his powers come at a cost: his freedom.”
Wendy wipes her moist cheek, stares at the lamp in her hand for a moment… then her eyes lock on Tumbler’s.
“He offered to heal me yesterday when he flew me to the hospital. I refused. I understood he meant it would bring him a step closer to eternal servitude.
“But it wouldn’t have been his last wish. So we could… and I’m your leader, not your dictator. My opinion is we look for another way first. Failing that, we have the lamp. On the other hand, success in finding Arcanum by another means might give us knowledge that can save Omnimatrix as well.”
She holds a hand over the lamp.
“I vote we use this lamp after we’ve tried another means. Outvote me, and I’ll rub the lamp myself, say the W-word with no further hesitation. Three votes either side is a win.
“Lamp now: zero
Lamp as last-resort: one.”
Ziss is shocked and it takes her a couple minutes both to recover herself from the exertion of closing the portal and the news that Arcanum is now trapped in Razzara... Probably at the mercy of the Mishima clan.
"For de two Goddesses, we need to bring him back... De Mishima clan will... will break him!" She could not find the word she wanted to, the closer one being Break.
"I can go dere, but I have never blinked wif anyone else before, just Jyx, and she is tini tiny... And... And..."
Ziss frowns, her face showing determination, even if also fear. All of this was her fault, so she runs away, hopping on her hoverboard, speeding towards Wendy's home.
---
Ziss hovers through an open window, almost crashing into a fembot, and a Jade figurine in her hands as she climbs on top the dinner table. In a flash, Ziss is gone!
"Of course we use the lamp now! He's trapped on another planet! Or plane, or whatever you want to call it," Tumbler says, not entirely getting at what she's saying about the lamp costing Arcanum his freedom. There might be a limit to the number of uses he had for the lamp, but this surely seemed like a good use of one of them!
Annoyed at Ziss speeding away, DD says to Tumbler, “Counting your vote thrice—Arcanum, I wish you right here, right now!”
She rubs the lamp—!