I leaned against the outside of our building, waiting for the robot girl from The Unchosen to meet up with us so we could start our patrol. I checked my phone; it was still five 'til, so she wasn't late, but if she wasn't here at eight sharp, I was leaving Lucy to deal with her while I 'patrolled' the tea shop before they closed at 8:30 so I could get snacks for the night. I scanned the sky, and thought about my plan, Oori hadn't been able to turn up anything on the buildings, they were all owned by separate companies, they all were zoned as 'office space' with some minor concessions, and they were all paid up on their taxes and utilities. If they weren't hollow, there'd be nothing odd about them at all, except they were marked as exempt from regular building and fire code inspections. But they were hollow, and that meant something was up. I hadn't discussed it with Lucy or robot girl, but I was planning on investigating a little more tonight, and I'd have some help, too.
"So, you excited?" Lucy asked.
I flinched "Uhhh, why?" I asked, concerned. She shouldn't know about my plan, I hadn't even told Oori about it...
"I mean, I'm excited." Lucy said "I know she's only like, half FolDrone, but still, a sentient drone? Most androids are like, boxes on wheels because of the stupid regulations. Her being a full on humanoid is pretty awesome, I can't believe we get to patrol with her..."
"Oh, yeah, right." I said. Lucy would be excited about that. "I mean it's no big deal, she's just a person that happens to be made of metal, it's whatever."
"I appreciate your kindness, Angel Rouge!" a voice said from beside me.
I snapped my wings open and lifted off, backing away as I got my bearings. The robot lady was hovering a foot off the ground, the tubes on her back glowing blue at the ends, not making a sound. She smiled at me and Lucy, and I lowered myself down slowly, and crossed my arms, embarrassed at my reaction.
"Many people don't see me as a person, it's refreshing to know you think of me as such." she said
"Uh, yeah, I mean..." I hadn't really thought of it like that, but at least she was happy with me? "I just- you know, people are people."
"I think you're awesome, seriously!" Lucy said, grinning "I love robots, they're like, one of my favorite things, and like, you are one!"
"Thank you!..." she said "I have to ask though, can you avoid using the word 'robot'? It used to mean 'slave', so it's a little weird to be called that."
"Oh, shit, I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was a slur, I wouldn't have used it if I'd known..." Lucy said, appalled
I frowned at her "Lucy, I heard you use a slur two hours ago..."
Lucy blushed "No! No, you can't just TELL people that, I used a slur about ME, that I'm allowed to say..."
"Whatever..." I said, turning to the other girl "So what can we call you?"
"Well, just Mod, or Maud, either one!" she laughed "But if you're describing me, then I prefer the term 'artificial life form', personally."
"Ok," I said "I'll remember that."
I doubted I would, but I'd pretend to try at least. Step 5.
"So, do you have a pattern you guys usually patrol in?" Mod asked "Or is it just easier to wander?"
"Well, I'm going to hit up the tea shop a few streets over, first." I said "I need snacks and caffeine, but after that... we just wander, usually."
"Mind if I stick with you two then?" Mod asked "After what happened to poor Amaryllis on her first patrol, I've been trying to stay close to the 'normal' looking members of the patrol so citizens won't be afraid of me too."
"Oh, yeah, we'll all go as a group." Lucy said "I heard about Amaryllis from Galorna... She said she was so stressed they could barely get her to uncurl and walk home..."
"She had severe agoraphobia, it's why she stayed in Canyon City until it was sealed." Mod said "So going out in public and getting screamed at... It set it off again."
"Why is she a super hero if she's-?" I started, then thought better of it "Mmm. Never mind. Sorry."
Lucy glared at me "She's being the best person she can be, don't judge her."
"No, it's ok." Mod said "It was a hard choice for her to make, and I did push her into it a little, but she's using it as a way to grow and become more confident."
"I get it." I said "I just- I was just thinking out loud. I'm going to go hit up the shop, I guess..."
I wasn't happy about the two of them following me all night, but I'd still do what I had to. This was my only lead on getting on the news and getting famous, and I was already having to share the spotlight with one other person if we found anything. I'd just have to make sure to be the most charismatic person there when we were in front of the cameras.
We made it to the shop in time for me to get a sack of pastries and a matcha tea, and a can of peach tea for later. I was craving sweets constantly these days, I'd ramped up my training in the past sessions, and I was pretty sure that was it, but I felt somehow empty when I wasn't eating or drinking something sweet. Lucy got a coffee and a muffin, and Mod politely waited outside for us. I sipped my tea as I rejoined her outside and tried to thing of the best way to tell them about my plans for the evening.
"So..." I started "I actually have plans tonight..."
"Wait, we can just blow off patrols?" Lucy asked, perking up "Fuck, me and G- uh, Angel Saffron need to finish the show we're watching, If I can just leave-"
"No, it's- I'm still on the job, it's a chosen thing, in our section." I interrupted her "I'm just- I won't be patrolling, patrolling. I'll be... investigating."
"Well, I think we should stick together still, what are you investigating?" Mod asked, crossing her arms.
I tried not to stare as her left arm's gears started clicking and shaking from being pressed against her smooth right one. Was that bad for her? Did she need to replace them from time to time? What was the maintenance on an 'artificial life form' like? Could she do it herself? I pushed it out of my head, I didn't really care about her, her body was just... interesting. I refocused, and tried to remember her question.
"Did Crystal tell you about the hollow buildings?" I asked
Lucy groaned "Ugh, that again?"
Mod nodded "Yyyyes, I heard. We're going to try and find more?"
"No, uh... I already marked them all out on a map." I said "We- we're going in one."
"I thought you and Angel Cobalt already did that..." Lucy grumbled
"Yeah, but this time we're going to try and get through the floor, too." I said "Come on, I already picked out one to explore, but we gotta get there fast, a secret helper is waiting for us already."
"Will we be breaking and entering?" Mod asked as we all lifted up into the sky, me taking the lead "I can override my programing, but it still makes me uncomfortable to break the law."
"The buildings are empty." I said "It doesn't count. Plus we're using the 'reasonable suspicion' thing, the one that lets heroes go into fallen lairs even if they're not actively chasing someone."
"...I won't do any of the breaking, but I'll come along, then." Mod said, after thinking for a moment
"This is not what we're supposed to be doing tonight. Breaking in, bending the law," Lucy said "maybe you're not as much of a stuck up asshole as I thought!"
I cringed, was that how she saw me? I was kind of rude, yeah, and I did look down on people a lot... I still had a lot of work to do on step 5 if she was willing to call me an asshole to my face like that.
I swallowed against the lump in my throat and pointed "Um, t-that building, the one over there, that's the one we're going into."
I flew ahead quickly to hide my watery eyes, and dropped over the edge of the building to the ground in the alley between the building in question and another one. We'd chosen this building because of this alley, no windows pointed at the building from here, so we could get in without being caught.
"Ah, you've arrived!" Seraphim said, stepping out of the shadows, her face bandaged up again to hide her glow. How she kept managing to hide in darkness while wearing all white was beyond me.
"'Sup, we have company." I said, pointing up
"Hey, uh, Candy?... I was just- oh, fuck, hi." Lucy said as she came over the building and saw Sera looming in the shadows
"This is the other hero in our section?" Mod said, lowering herself down next to me and extending her right hand, the prosthetic one, to Sera "I haven't met you. I'm happy to make your acquaintance, my name is Maud."
"Oh, a wonder!" Seraphim said, lighting up. She shook Mod's hand gently "I'd wondered if there were any mageworks craftsmen here, what manner of golem are you built on? I see you have glass, but also clockwork, you are surely a work of fine craftsmanship!"
"Aww, you flatter me!" Mod said "Mh, yes, I'm- I suppose golem could describe me, in a way. A sand golem, maybe, on account of my computer chips? I'm an artificial life form, I was made of... whatever parts my friend could find, at the time."
Seraphim's eyes widened and her smile spread under her wraps "I am curious to see what your friend could create if they had access to a full workshop, then! I am such an admirer of wonders, I'm thankful I get to see one here, so far from home."
I sighed and stepped in "Mod, this is Seraphim, she's not on patrol right now, so we'll be covering for her if we get caught." I turned to Sera "Ok, enough chatting, get us in."
Sera smiled, and put her hands on the side of the building and flexed. A flash of light exploded outwards and washed over the alley with a cracking noise and a shockwave, and the wall blew inwards, leaving a gaping hole in front of us.
"Holy shit..." Lucy said "remind me to never fight you, Seraphim."
Sera looked at the three of us and smugly tilted her head back "I could fight all of you, if need be, I have no reason to remind you to avoid a fight."
"You told me you'd lose against me." I pointed out
"Only if you were naked, or close to it." Seraphim said, then glanced at Mod, remembering my power was a secret "...But that is not a conversation for this place."
I glanced at Mod to see if she'd picked up on anything, but she was just smiling knowingly at the two of us, her hand over her mouth as if to say 'that's so sweet!~'. I rolled my eyes, let her misunderstand, it kept my power secret all the same. I pulled my flashlight out of my pocket, and stepped into the hole, switching it on. The interior of the building was almost the same as the other one, no windows on the ground floor, but rows of them on the upper floors, nothing inside but metal and concrete support beams. I walked to the center of the room, keeping my flashlight on the ground to hide the light from the windows and ran my shoe along the ground until I found the joint.
"I got it!" I called out to Sera "Come blast this, and we'll all drop down."
"I can... stay watch?" Lucy offered, walking slowly into the room behind the others "This feels... I don't know, like something out of one of those cheap cash grab horror games."
"I don't play many games, so I don't know what you're talking about." I said "But no, if you're here, you're coming down with us."
Sera stepped up and floated over the ground, her hands out, and I stepped back. There was a large flash, and the ground shattered and crumbled where she'd shot. Once the dust cleared, I saw there was still more concrete , she'd made a dent a couple feet deep, but she hadn't broken through.
She charged up, and blasted again, the ground shattering and splitting open, hot air rushing up out of the newly opened hole. I drifted over and looked down, the floor was around three feet thick, and the cavern underneath was pitch black.
"Whoah..." Lucy said, kicking a rock into the hole "It's deep..."
The rock hit the ground a second later, the sound echoing around in the empty building
"It's about 30 feet deep, sounds like." Mod said thoughtfully "I can set up some anchors and some rope from my storage compartment so we can get down there."
"My dearest wonder, we can all fly..." Sera said as she unwrapped her face, her shine brightening up the whole building
"I'd rather be safe than sorry." she said, driving a spike into the ground "I have 4.46 hours of flight left, I want to be able to get out if I use all that up."
"Fair enough." Lucy said "I've got my transformation up to almost twelve hours now, so I'll be fine."
"And mine lasts for... I'm not sure, it's been lasting until the end of each patrol, though." I said
"Mine lasts for as long as my god breathes and the universe cycles, and maybe longer!" Seraphim said, laughing lightly. I didn't get the joke, but she was still smiling at herself when she jumped into the hole, leaving us in a much darker space, barely lit by my and Lucy's aura.
"Hang on- fuck..." I said, and jumped in after her.
It was a good ways down, around 30 feet like Mod had said, and about as wide as the building itself. The ground we landed on was covered with the rubble from up above, and I picked my way over to where Sera was standing as the others made their way down too. The room was mostly empty, but the wall Sera was looking at had a desk, a sink, and a tall rack with bottles and jars lining it, full of liquids. Some had lumps floating in them, some had a slight glow. It looked like they hadn't been touched in a long, long time, based on the layer of dust on them.
"What's this?" I asked her "Some kind of lab?"
"It's alchemy of some kind, I'm sure of it..." Sera said, picking up a bottle and shaking it. The lump inside spun slowly and I took a step back when I realized it was a severed hand, with sharp claws and strange mottled skin.
"It's... body parts?" Lucy said, coming up behind up "This is... way too much for me..."
Sera turned to look at Lucy, concerned, and the hand in the jar she was holding twitched, clenching the fingers slightly. The other body parts in the jars all wiggled slightly too, and one of the eyes squirmed its tail, bumping into the glass with a small 'tink'
"Hhhhh, yep, nope, I'm staying up top." Lucy said
"I thought you were all goth and stuff," I groaned "isn't this your thing? These are super old anyway."
"Being goth means I know enough about spooky stuff to stay away from rooms with moving body part jars, thank you very much." Lucy snapped at me
"I support your decision, Angel Sable." Mod said, giving a small smile "We'll contact you if anything goes wrong!"
"Yeah, whatever..." Lucy said "Maud, I still wanna hang out some other time, hit me up..."
As she flew up and out of the hole, Sera sighed "These parts are... concerning, and have signs of some heretic mischiefs, but not the ones I'm looking for."
"Well... This is just one building, we could go up and try the next one?" I said "We know there's something in at least this one, so..."
"If I may..." Mod said politely "My sensors are showing a passageway to the north, and one to the south, could we try looking there before we break into anywhere else?"
I shone my flashlight in one of the directions she pointed "Oh, sure enough..." I said, thinking "I bet they lead to other empty buildings, Sera, do you want to go south, and Mod and I will go north?"
"Hmm..." Sera said, sniffing the air "I'm fine with that, you go ahead, we'll meet back here..."
I waved at her, and we headed off in our directions. As we approached the passageway, Mod stopped, and pulled back a panel on her left leg, turning on an industrial construction light in her 'thigh'. I watched it bounce and flicker across the walls as we walked, and looked at my own flashlight. I'd known I'd need more light than my aura, but... It almost seemed pathetic compared to her giant spotlight. I tucked the flashlight into my pocket and let Mod pass me, so my shadow wasn't blocking our view.
"I'm surprised you didn't want to go with your friend, Angel Rouge. This was your mission after all." she said, glancing back at me
"Well... I know she can handle herself." I said "I don't know if I'm much good in a fight, but I'm better than nothing, so I went with the weaker person. No offense."
"None taken, my strength is in my utility." Mod said "Drone's weapon systems are mostly in their arms and legs, so while I can hold my own, I am of no disillusion about my real power."
"I mean... You are pretty helpful, though." I said "Rope, a light, that spike, it's handy stuff."
"Mm, and I can lift over a ton as well!" she said "I have my uses."
I could only lift around 700 pounds, transformed at full power, but I was pretty sure I could go way, way higher if I had a transformed sweet to eat first. I was contemplating if we could figure out how strong I was by comparing the strength needed to crumple a metal desk with people's max lift when we stepped out into another room. This one was dimly lit with red glowing lights, and Mod shut her light off as we entered, making the whole room feel oddly numbing.
The walls and ceiling were covered with thick, tan flesh, with thin mouths and wide eyes everywhere. The center of the room had a large hole in it, and a pillar of flesh poured out of it, seeming to be the source of the rest of the flesh, growing out of the middle of the room like a weird flesh mushroom. A strange smell filled the air, similar to the one on Seraphim's house, but more sweaty, and unclean.
"Oh..." I said "This... isn't what I expected to find..."
"It's... alive, and it goes down, way, way down..." Mod said "My seismic detectors are picking up a pulse from... as far down as I can get a reading."
"What is it?" I asked, carefully walking around the pillar, noticing how the eyes followed me, watching my every move. One of the mouths opened up and a tongue slithered out, giving me a flashback to the mouth in Sera's stomach
"I think..." Mod said, her eyes flashing "I think it's a part of The Northern Empress? It matches up with how her body looked the last time she left her cathedral, just... not woman shaped..."
"But-" I said, getting chills "No, she's in the wastes, she is the wastes, we're an ocean away from her!"
"Well... then someone is growing a new one of her." Mod said grimly "This is almost an exact match for her style and presence, even the pillar in the center could be the tail end of one of the tendrils that comes off her back."
"So- what, she just grew herself all the way here? Underground, across an ocean, from the northern wastes?" I asked, wondering if she was listening to us "That's- that's stupid."
"She could be trying to set up branches in cities?" Mod said "She might be looking to expand. We know she can make new bodies, her avatar was a fraction of her true height when she first introduced herself last century, this could be the seed of a new cathedral."
"I guess, she did have that weird kid, recently..." I muttered "Fuck, this is like, a global threat, we need to report it, or something..."
"Let's... keep going for now." she replied "There's more passageway to investigate."
I looked over at the far wall and saw a hole in the flesh, leading deeper into the rooms. The first room had what looked like a serial killer's trophy case, the second had a part of one of the most dangerous physical gods on the planet, what could the third have? A space-time rift? I wanted to get as much information as I could before I went to Oori with this though, so...
"Fuck... ok, fuck." I said "Let's keep moving then."
I watched as some of the flesh on the pillar started to twist and shape, and I dashed ahead. Whatever she was doing, I didn't want to sit around and watch it happen. Mod used her jets and slid up next to me, turning her light on as we moved quickly down the tunnel.
"...We have to go back through there, you know." Mod said "And I think she noticed us."
"I... don't want to think about that." I said "Hopefully she's asleep again by the time we come back..."
We walked in silence for a while, the clanging of Mod's construction feet echoing out around us. I felt nervous about this whole mission now, and I was really regretting not going with Sera. If we had run into The Northern Empress, she could have just blasted it. I could... hope god-flesh turned into pie like human flesh did, I supposed? I was screwed if it didn't...
Mod's light fell on a large steel door at the end of the hall, and I walked up to it slowly.
"Well... if it's locked, we'll have to go back..." I said, looking for a handle
"I think it''s got an inset handle, there." Mod said, pointing to a small hole on the side.
It didn't look like any handle I'd ever seen, but I fit my hand into the oblong hole, and felt my fingers slide into place, each pushing in some kind of button. The door hissed, and swung open with a pop, flooding the small space we were in with the smell of dirt, rot, and old leaves. I gagged, and put my gloved hand over my mouth to block it out, slowly walking forwards into the darkness.
"This place stinks..." I said, pulling off one glove to tie around my head. Mod was a robot anyway, so she'd be safe from me at least.
"Oh, dear, I'm sorry to hear that." Mod said, sounding almost smug "I don't have a sense of smell myself."
I grumbled and looked around. There were no lights in this room, and it'd been blocked off into small corridors that went off at random angles. The ceiling was much lower too, being barely higher than the one in the passageway we'd just left.
"Leave the door open, in case we have to make a dash for it." I said. I shone my light down the different passageways and tunnels, seeing strange grooves on the walls about waist high, and dirt on the floor instead of concrete.
I wasn't about to go wandering down one of the paths and get lost, so I kept to the 'main' one until it dead ended with a sharp right turn.
"Hey, I'm going this way." I said "Bring your light."
Mod coasted up beside me, and shone her light down the hallway, the hall took another turn to the right, so we followed it cautiously until we entered into a large, open area with dirt walls and floor, not as tall as the other two rooms had been, but still taller than the tunnels. There were 2 tanks set up with humanoids in them along one wall, the liquid filling the tanks too clouded to see into, a row of computer equipment along one side, a small living area with a bed, fridge, and table, and the doors to an elevator set into one wall.
I crept forward to one of the tanks, seeing waving, twitching things coming off the humanoid's bodies in one, and a coil of... something serpentine around the other. I shuddered, not sure what I was looking at. I turned to get Mod to shine her light into one of the tanks, and froze when I saw movement from the living quarters.
There, from on the floor, a strange, cursed, hateful thing was crawling towards me. It had the upper half of a human, with splotchy red and white skin where the top half met the lower half, and long blonde hair. The eyes were blood red, with yellow rings and black centers, and they slid into slits as it reared up. It was vaguely feminine in appearance, with two horn like antenna and two sets of arms, both hanging loosely as it scurried. The lower half, though, was my worst nightmare. It was a long, fat centipede body, black and red, with legs that jutted out from the body, slightly transparent and moving too fast to see clearly. It hissed, and I saw that its mouth was full of human teeth, except for the two sharp fangs that slid out from the cheeks as it lifted up towards me.
My heart was racing, and I was about to scream, I could tell. Or- no, actually, I was already screaming, that must be why I couldn't hear it hissing anymore. I swung my foot at it and felt it thud as I punted it across the room, straight at the passageway we'd just come down and collapsed. It screamed and writhed, flopping around on the dirt floor before getting up and dashing off out of the room. I tried to catch my breath, even if it'd only been a couple feet long, that was one of the most terrifying things I'd ever seen.
"My- my baby!" a voice yelled and I turned to see a halfling man with a white beard and a stained tank top stumble out of the bed, reaching for where the horror had slipped off to. Had he been sleeping here? With that thing in the same room with him?
"Baby?" Mod said, whipping her head around to look where it'd gone "Angel Rouge, what was that?"
"It- b-bug thing..." I said, trying to get my words out
Mod looked at me for a moment, then nodded, and stepped over to the man while I collected myself.
"Sir, you said that was your baby?" she asked
"Why-why are you in my home?" the man asked, a far north accent slipping through "You scared her, she'll be in the tunnels for hours now, please, why did you come in here?"
"We're investigating criminal acts, and we stumbled across your home." Mod said plainly
The man looked her up and down, then looked over to me "Oh- oh gods, no, you're heroes?"
"We are, yes." Mod said firmly
The man nodded slowly, then spun, slamming his hand on a box next to the computers. All of the lights on them lit up, and a red light flashed on the walls.
"Fuck you!" he screamed "I was told I wouldn't be bothered!"
I stood up "Uh, Mod, I think he just did something, we should-"
At that, the floor buckled, and a huge centipede, as big around as I was and as long as a bus, luckily without any human parts this time, on it burst from the floor, followed by another, and another.
I screamed, and bolted, charging down the exit, soaring around the turns and covering my face in case the little insect girl was still there, pushing myself to get to the door, if I could get to the door, I'd be safe, I just had to get to the door... I swished through it, and turned, slamming it on Mod with a clang as she flew up behind me, pushing, trying to get it to latch.
"Damnit, Candy, just let me-" She shoved the door open, knocking me over, and turned, slamming it herself on the horde of approaching insects.
She turned and glared at me, her drone face not quite built for the action. "Really? We're in this together, you know."
"Sorry- I-I, I mean I-I" I stuttered "No, I was panicking, I just-"
She sighed "Look, I know you're entomophobic or something. I noticed when you met Amaryllis, your heart rate was sky high, but- you can't let that make choices for you. If I hadn't been stronger than you, I could have been torn apart just now."
"I- hhh, sorry..." I said "Please don't tell Panic Attack, I just, bugs set off my brain...."
"I think she knows." Mod said "She's not stupid, and you screamed when you saw her."
"Oh, yeah..." I said, listening to the scratches coming from the other side of the door. It wasn't so bad when there was all that steel between us.
"I guess it's time to go back then..." I said "I wanted to check out that elevator, but..."
Mod nodded "Yeah... come on, let's try and get through The Northern Empress's room quickly. If she grabs you, say something, I have a couple tricks that might help at least."
I braced myself and took off, flying blind as Mod zoomed behind me, having trouble keeping up. As I saw the red glow, I slowed down enough to let her catch up, and then went ahead, taking a wide arc to avoid the pillar in the center of the-
I stopped, and Mod pulled up behind me. The entire room was empty, not a trace of the flesh that had covered everything, the hole in the floor being the only proof she'd ever been here. There was a slightly sticky coating on the walls, and the smell lingered, but no inch of flesh, no mouths, no eyes.
Me and Mod exchanged looks, and I lowered myself to the ground. "So... is she hiding?" I asked
"No, she's... not here at all." Mod said "My sensors don't detect... anything?"
So much for being able to show off my findings I guess." I grumbled
"Angel Rouge, it's a good thing that she's gone, we don't want her anywhere near our city." Mod said
"Who's gone?" a voice from the entrance asked. I looked up to see Sera walking in, sniffing the air
"Just- one of the goddesses." I said "She was in this room the first time we came through, or part of her was, and when we came back, she was gone."
"I see..." Sera said, her face in a deep frown "A goddess you say?"
"Yeah, one of the ones who lives on earth 24/7, The Northern Empress." I explained
"I see." Seraphim said again "We may need to speak to her, eventually. Her scent calls something forth..."
"Well, good luck with that." I snorted "She eats almost half the people who go to see her. Anyway, what did you find?"
Sera looked back at me, her train of thought breaking "Hm? Oh, I found a room full of weapons and strange tools, with a testing area where they'd been used on something alive, there was a lot of blood, some fresh, some very old. The next room was one full of magic items. I didn't recognize the symbols used, but they looked like cursed items to me, I could feel the darkness in the room. The room after that was locked, and my blasts wouldn't get through the door. What did you find?"
I started down the hallway to the hole we'd made "We found the goddess, like I mentioned, and some old guy who was making giant bugs."
"And person bug hybrids, I think." Mod added.
I shuddered "...Yeah, those too."
"I fail to see the connection between all these things, but I can tell there must be one..." Sera said as we walked through the doorway and started flying up to the hole "They are all unconnected, are they not?"
"They're all frowned on?" Mod said "They're all things that would get you thrown out of polite society, right? Testing weapons on living things, curses, genetic modifications, bringing a horrid goddess like that into the city, collecting body parts... The old man implied someone gave him the space, could they be renting the areas out?"
"What, like, someone who only rents underground spaces to weirdos?" I asked and we came out of the hole.
"What kind of weirdos?" Lucy asked, coming over "There was a little weirdo that came out of the hole a while ago, but she was too fast, and I lost her."
"Oh fuck, the little bug girl..." I moaned "That thing is loose up here? I'll never sleep again..."
"What happened down there?" Lucy asked, looking concerned
"Here, let me catch you up..." Mod said, taking Lucy aside to explain what we'd seen.
"Candy, I don't mean to be contradictory, but the theory the wonder put forward isn't correct." Sera said quietly "These rooms may be things that are frowned on, but there's a thread here, I know it."
I nodded "Yeah, and they're all linked up, too, with the tunnels. There's got to be three dozen of these fake buildings around here, and we only looked at 5 of them. I think we need to branch out. I'll get a map, and we'll mark which ones we've looked at, and then try and hit all of them over time, to figure out what's going on."
"You said you wanted to take it to the authorities, do you still want to?" Sera asked
"Yeah, of course, I want that sweet, sweet clout." I said "Getting followers is the only reason I'm doing this, but unless I'm the one who exposes what it is, whoever they send in will get all the credit... Most likely the Children of Battle, they're the most tactical, and it's all underground."
"Well, then next time we're both out here like this, let's find a new one, and keep investigating." Seraphim agreed "I felt something important down there, and I think I can get closer to the heretic I'm hunting if I can just figure out what was setting off my bells..."
"Hey so like, giant bugs, huh?" Lucy said, stepping over to the conversation "I bet you looooved that, huh Candy?"
"...Shut up Lucy." I said "What time is it? Is our shift over yet?"
"It's about 12:00." Mod said "We have a few more hours."
I picked up my bag of snacks from where I'd left it and dug in it for my can of tea "Well, let's do some flyovers, then... I guess keep an eye out for a tiny thing with a centipede body..."
I pulled out my tea and frowned "...Wait, I got 3 of these cream filled donut things, it was buy two get one, where's my other one?" I looked up at Lucy "Did you eat my fucking food?"
"I mean, they must have forgotten to give you the free one, I guess?" Lucy shrugged
I stifled a groan. I was almost positive I'd counted them when they put them in, but if she said she didn't eat it... Step 5... I was very hungry, but two could tide me over. I'd have to watch the lady behind the counter next time I went in though, just to be safe.
I pulled down my makeshift mask and shoved one in my mouth whole and gulped some tea to wash it down, shivering at the wonderful, grainy sugar filling oozing into my body. Mmm, sugar just did a body good... I must have burned more calories down there than I'd thought.
"Mmm... ok, let's head out..." I said, wiping my mouth and swallowing
I flew over to the hole in the wall and lifted up, reaching over the top of the building and into the open air. I spread my wings, and-
I felt something slam into me, wrapping me up and dropping me like a stone. I let go of my snacks and rolled. I couldn't hold my transformation, I flickered, and went back to my base form midair as I fought to pull the weird fleshy metal mesh off me, the netting feeling like it weighed a hundred pounds, slamming me into the roof of the fake building with a force hard enough to stun me. I screamed, and I saw Lucy and Sera zip up to find me.
Lucy got shot out of the air the same way as me, going down like a stone, but Sera refused to go, struggling with her net, and trying to pull her sword out. A dart hit her in the side, then another, then another, then one hit her in the neck, and slowly, finally, she sank to the roof beside the two of us. Mod, for her credit, shot off down the street below us, staying away from the skies, running for help most likely. She made it almost a whole block before she was hit with a glowing ball that made her go stiff then clatter limply on the street.
I lay there, trying not to hyperventilate. What was going on? Were the people who shot us out of the sky the same people who were running the fake buildings? Were we going to die? How did they un-transform us, and why couldn't I feel my powers at all anymore? Was Mod dead or was she just de-powered too? I strained against the cords, feeling them dig into me, and I sobbed, I couldn't move, I couldn't even thrash...
A figure walked up to the three of us on the roof and I stared up at her. She was 'human', or at least, she had human ears, and was fairly short, maybe twenty five or thirty years old, with teeth sharper than Sera's. Her skin was a swirled pink and dark grey reminding me of the hand I'd seen in the jar below us, and her hair was a very dark grey, hanging straight and limp around her plain, unremarkable face. She wore a light grey pinstripe business suit with a large, flat gold necklace around her neck, a symbol of some kind; religious, from the looks of it. She exuded both grace and power as she loomed over me, seeming much bigger in my mind than physically in front of me. She bent over, and stared at me with her pink and black eyes, and spoke to me in a raspy, quiet voice.
"Hello, Angel Rouge. I think it's time your group and I had a little talk about privacy, and I've been meaning to talk to you personally for a long while. Won't you come back to my office with me?" Her words were careful, as if years of talking through razor sharp teeth had made sure she enunciated every word.
I couldn't do anything but shake as she smiled and stood up, snapping her fingers. Three strong people in suits climbed up onto the roof with us, each taking one of us over their shoulders and heading back down the fire escape.
"Put them in the back, and put the android in the trunk." the lady said coldly.
I whimpered as they tossed us in a pile in the back of a limousine, the lady getting in the front. At least with my powers turned off, I didn't have to worry about changing my friends as I lay on top of them.
No that that would matter for much longer, if this lady decided to kill us...