I sat in the chair, my arms and legs tied with the strange sinew-y metal rope and I tried to regulate my breathing. Lucy was to my right, and Sera and Mod were to my left. Lucy was tied up the same way I was, while Sera was chained with thick heavy chains. Mod seemed to be in some sort of electrified cage, and was sitting very still in the middle, not moving. She hadn't moved since she was captured, I wasn't even sure she was awake or alive.
We were in another one of the large underground rooms, but this one was well furnished, with tapestries, fancy furniture laid out like an old feasting hall, and what looked like a small one story house talking up one side of the room. We were sitting in front of a throne of sorts, high backed and wooden, and the lady sat in front of us primly, looking down at us from her seat, a cigarette in one hand. She took a draw, blowing the smoke towards us as she stared us down.
"I suppose you wonder why you're here, aren't you?" she said, watching us
"No, I figure it's because we broke into your building." Lucy said sullenly.
"I'm sorry about that, we- I didn't know they were full of stuff." I said, trying to look innocent
"If you didn't expect to find anything, then why break in?" the lady said calmly
"We- it's our- my job." I stuttered "I'm supposed to- to, I don't know, find problems in the area, and fix them, I'm a hero. I thought there might be a problem."
As much as I wanted to get out of this alive, it had been my idea and my mission, if I could draw attention away from the others, they might be able to get out of this alive...
"I was hunting for heretics." Sera spat "And you smell like nothing I've ever come across before. Starting to wonder if I found what I was looking for..."
"And you're not any kind of chosen I've ever seen, 'Seraphim'." snapped the woman "I'd be careful with your tone or I'll send my men to search your house, see if they can find anything that can identify your god. Trinkets, symbols, books..."
Sera paled at that and went silent, her head ducking as she bit her lip.
"...I thought so." the lady said. Did she know something about Sera? It almost sounded like she did, but it could also be an empty threat that happened to hit home...
"We won't tell anyone!" Lucy said "about the weird stuff, I didn't even see it, I stayed up top, I have no idea what's down there."
"I know you won't tell anyone." the lady said "But even if you did, it wouldn't matter. All you saw were legal, legitimate businesses. A company laboratory, an office chapel, a testing facility for a licensed weapons manufacturer. Nothing you saw was breaking the law."
"Ok, so there's nothing wrong then!" I said, nodding quickly "We didn't see anything bad, we were acting under the reasonable suspicion excuse, so you can bill the GGDS for the repairs, and-"
"There is something wrong, though." the woman said, standing and walking over to me, her shoes clicking on the floor as she approached "You are inhibiting my business ventures, and you are digging into things that aren't any of your concern."
She leaned in, her smoky breath mixing with the air around me face as she looked deep into my eyes
"There's a reason there haven't been any chosen in this area for almost a year, Candy Clenson."
"My name is public, you're not scaring me with the whole 'I know who you really are' junk, I'm registered." I said, blowing the smoke away from my face, eyes watering
"I don't make a habit of 'scaring' people." she hissed "I simply operate, and people fall in line."
I leaned back, turning my face as she got closer. I looked at Sera, her face scrunched in a pained expression, the ropes leaving deep bloody marks on her wrists and legs. Was she tied tighter than me? Was she straining that hard? We needed to get out of here, whatever it took to do that...
"So, what do you want from me then?" I said, not looking at her
She leaned back "I'll forget about all this, in exchange for three things. One, you do not speak of this, any of you. Two, you do not investigate any further. Lastly, Candy, I wish to see you in private, for a few moments of your time."
"Ok! I agree!" Lucy said quickly "That sounds great, No problem with me."
I glared at her. This wasn't her call to make, but she still tried to throw me under the bus like this? Maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to try and claim the blame.
"What about the wonder?" Sera said, her voice ragged "Will she be ok?
"The wonder?... Ah, yes. She's aware, but her motor functions are locked down. As long as she keeps quiet, she will be restored to her normal function upon release." the woman said.
"Then... that is amicable to me." Sera said "As long as Angel Rouge is ok with the meeting."
I swallowed. I didn't really have a choice, did I? I could refuse, she hadn't said she'd kill us, but we were tied up in an underground chamber with no powers, the implications were heavy.
"I'll... yeah, I'll meet with you in private." I said, my voice shaky.
"Perfect." she said "In that case, I'll retire to my quarters. My men will untie you and escort you there."
She dropped the cigarette at my feet and tapped it out with her foot, stalking away to the small house. My stomach turned, her quarters? Was this a sexual thing? I knew people had things for powered individuals, but... There were a number of things she could want from me, it didn't have to be that. It could be information, or exchanging CirNet follows, or... something... I just hoped I wouldn't have to do anything that would jeopardize my morals...
~~~
"Candy, I want you to kill me." She said, a fresh cigarette in her mouth.
We were in her sitting room, the whole thing done up in hand carved oak, with old, ancient books lining old shelves, tall backed plush chairs, a full bar, and artwork of a young girl dressed as a nun of some kind hanging on the wall. The plush, ornate rug and yellow lamps on the walls made me feel like I was living two hundred years ago, and the mounted animal heads didn't help that impression. Taxidermy had been banned for so long, I didn't even know how old the heads must have been. I couldn't imagine she'd found someone to stuff them in the modern day, but where else would she have gotten them?
Her words caught up with me.
"Wait, wait, what?" I asked, shocked "I don't kill people, I don't-"
"I've watched you kill someone." she said plainly. She pulled a wall panel down to show a small computer screen that clashed with the design of the room, and pressed a button. It began to play a video, and with shock I realized it was of me, in Homicide's office, his arms around me, gun to my head.
I watched in horror and awe as the me in the video folded him, and the chaos started.
"I- I don't-" I started
"No excuses." she said "Like I said, I've seen you kill someone."
"I smashed everything, all the videos should have been gone!" I said, my body cold
"I have access to his cloud files, stored off-site. We've worked together for a while, in a professional sense. I erased the videos of you and your 'friends' at his establishments as a matter of professional courtesy but... this one I thought was worth saving."
I stared at the screen, watching as I to
ok a bite of him- biting his legs off if I remembered right.
"I don't understand..." I said "Why- why would you want that?"
"Because I've tried all the other options." she said coldly "I've been trying to die for over five hundred years, and nothing works. The gods don't want me in Samsara or the afterlife, but I've got people to see on the other side, people waiting on me."
"Five hundred?... What the fuck..." I mumbled.
This was the person Miss Missile mentioned, she had to be... I shuddered, five hundred years was a long time to want to die...
"What all have you tried?" I asked. Maybe if I could find a way for her to do it herself, I wouldn't have to do that to her...
"I've been stabbed, taken apart, poisoned, drown, burned alive, starved, everything." she said "Five hundred years is a long, long time, I've gotten quite 'creative' over the years. With the advent of chosen last century, I was hopeful that one of them could put me down, but..." she sighed "Powers that kill outright are usually PR unfriendly, so they don't show up much."
She glanced up at me "You, though, your powers come from a goddess who's never chosen anyone before, who's got a big enough following that she can ignore the bad press. A goddess who's slightly out of touch with the mortal world..."
"Oh... yeah..." I said softly. My head was full and I was feeling the pressure of my lungs against my heart, I'd been trying to avoid my power, and now she was demanding I use it? Every time I touched someone, I got closer and closer, if I used it again, would I even be able to stop myself next time I bumped into someone?
"I really don't want to do this..." I said "And you disabled my powers, anyway, so... I can't even do it if I wanted to."
"You have your powers back now, you were only powerless when you were tied up with the rope made of my flesh." she said angrily "You can transform and use your ability on my as soon as you stop deliberating about it."
I dipped inside, and felt the familiar hum of my magic deep inside me. Ropes made of her blocked powers? That didn't make sense, but... it'd worked. I tried to think of a way out now that I had my powers back, I could transform, punch her in the face, bust through the door, free Sera and drag Lucy and Mod out of here, no killing required, I could just...
Get caught again by the immortal lady with power canceling ropes the second I let my guard down... I didn't see a way out, even if I left the area and flew out to the folds, she could just capture my family and I'd have to come back.
I belatedly realized that the family implication was most likely why she'd used my full name...
Chosen, and even the fallen chosen, weren't supposed to go after families. Doing so was a good way for the chosen with power, real power, to drop the PR friendly act and smear you across the pavement in a split second to make an example out of you. This lady wasn't a chosen though. She'd said the gods hated her, so whatever she was, she wasn't following the same set of rules as me. And from what she'd said, being smeared across the pavement would just be a mild inconvenience for her at worst...
"Well?" she asked, lighting a fresh cigarette "Are we going to get this over with already?"
I took a breath and transformed. I didn't know if she knew I didn't strictly need to be transformed to use my power, but... I thought I should be careful anyway. I looked around for something to stall with, my heart beating hard against my ribs.
"So... smoking, is that an attempt to die too?" I asked, pointing at her cigarette "You know, cancer and stuff?"
She frowned and glanced down at it. "...No, it simply makes someone close to my heart very upset when I do it. So I do it as frequently as I can."
"Oh..." I said. That wasn't an answer, that was a riddle, and I didn't really care about her enough to try and figure it out. "So, these stuffed heads-" I started, pointing at the taxidermied animals
"Candy." she said, her eyes flashing with anger "Take my hand."
I looked at her hand as she reached out, and down at my own hand, still bare from when I had used my glove as a face mask. I swallowed hard.
"It's- you remain aware and awake the whole time, it's not death, it's-"
"So you'll eat me." she growled "I doubt I could survive that."
"Are you sure you want to die? I know you've been around a while, but if you talked to someone, maybe-"
She hissed smoke out of her mouth, and reached over snatching my hand with hers. My mind exploded into sensation, sweet, sour, sticky, all of it flooding my mouth as I felt her hand in mine. The 'spark' that I usually saw when I touched people was more like a night sky full of stars, hundreds if not thousands of sparks flickering and bounding against each other, spinning and writhing. I couldn't comprehend all of them, but as I felt her hand in mine, something folded anyway, and my hand pulled away, the familiar feeling rushing into me as my power activated.
I opened my eyes, and stared at my hand. In it, was a single blue and green gummy worm. I took a shaky breath. I hadn't felt anything like that before, it was like I was touching a thousand people all at once, all connected into one.
"Well, fuck."
I snapped my head up at the curse, jumping as I saw the lady still in her chair, still humanoid. I looked from the gummy to her, and back again, and I blinked.
"Wh- how are you still here?" I asked "I folded you!"
"You folded a piece of me..." she said "A very small fragment. And it's already grown back."
"So... you're not this worm?" I asked, holding it up.
She grimaced "I am, but in the same way you're the hair on your hairbrush."
"Oh..." I was so relieved I hadn't been able to kill her, I felt calm and cool, with my legs feeling weak under me.
"Sorry I couldn't kill you..." I said, not sorry at all
"We're not done." she said "It took a moment for that part of me to grow back, if you use both hands, and you pull constantly, you may be able to outpace my healing."
I felt the pit return to my stomach "Uh, ma'am, it's kinda traumatic for me to use my power, it's like, I killed someone with it already, it's kinda stressing me out to think about having to try and kill you over and over..."
"Well, I'm sure there's many, many more things that are much more traumatic than that, wouldn't you agree?" she said, holding both hands out to me and glaring
I read the unspoken threat, and suppressed a shudder, taking off my other glove. "I... I just- if I do kill you, will your men know to let us go?"
I probably should have asked that before the first attempt, actually...
She sighed "They know why you came in here, yes. You'll be fine. Hurry this up, please. If it doesn't work, I have meetings to go to later."
I bit my lip, and reached out with both hands. I felt her skin, her sparks, and I pulled. One side came away into another gummy worm, then the other, then the first one again. I pulled at the sparks as quickly as I could, alternating between them, watching them wink out and re-appear as my hands filled with candy. I pulled and pulled, and tried not to think about how I was actively trying to help a woman I'd just met kill herself.
She pulled her hands away, and I stopped, opening my eyes. My fists bulged with gummies, and my head felt light and buzz-y. I fell back into my chair and dumped the worms into my lap, my eyes full of spots.
"It's not working..." she snapped "I'm regenerating too fast, and you're already almost out of mana."
"Oh, is that what this is?..." I said, my voice warbling and my head lolling back
"You're experiencing power fatigue." she said "Try eating one of the worms."
I rubbed my head as a headache came on, and pulled up one of the worms, looking at it nervously
"It's fine." she said "It's not going to hurt you, just eat it."
I took a tentative bite, and tried to hold back a gag as a drop of blood formed and pooled at the end of the gummy. It tasted good at least, sour and sweet, and just the right amount of chew. My teeth worked into the sugary meat, and I felt the sensation of dizzy-ness fade slightly. I ate the other half, licking the tangy blood off my fingers and I felt much better. My head still hurt, and I didn't feel the sense of being too much stronger like when I'd eaten Homicide, but the worms did something at least.
"This was a disappointment..." she said darkly "I was sure you'd be able to bypass the worms..."
"You knew you'd turn into gummy worms?" I asked, confused. Was there a way to tell?
"No, the worms." she said "The gummy worms were just a cruel prank by your power. Look."
She pulled a knife out of her suit jacket and dug it into her palm, dragging it roughly, gashing open her skin. I screamed, and she gave me a dirty look.
"Shut up, look." she snapped
Her wound bubbled with off-colored blood, and small pink worms oozed out, spreading a thick goo on her cut, pulling it together and glueing it closed. I watched in awe as the worms used their bodies to patch the cut, sealing the gash in a matter of seconds, the pattern of the worms and the goo matching the rest of her body.
"The worms." she said "They stop me from dying. I can't figure out how to get rid of them."
"Well... I could feel them, when I touched you..." I said "It's like there were lots of people I was touching at once, I think that was them..."
"Most likely." she said "I'm showing you this because I want you to think about it. I want you to think about how to use your powers to get past them, and I want you to think about how people you meet could use their powers to get past it. If you can't kill me, you need to be on the lookout for someone who can."
"I can look for someone, yeah..." I said "There's got to be someone though, I saw the Northern Empress in one of the chambers, maybe she could-"
"NO." the woman said, shuddering "She will not have another chance at my life. Her methods are... unpleasant. She can try again when she has new ideas."
"So... She's actively trying to think of a way to kill you? Is that why she's there?" I asked thoughtfully. I gasped "Wait, I just realized, holy shit, are all the empty buildings, the stuff under them, is it all just people you hired to find a way to kill you?"
She raised her eyebrows at me, and a hint of a smile played around her cigarette "You're quick on the uptake, Candy. I'm almost impressed."
"Why are they trying so hard to kill you?" I asked "Isn't it like, murder?"
"No, I'm considered a non-person." she said "I made sure of that when I helped write the laws concerning monsters and inhumans. I can own property, but no crimes against me count as real crimes. A few experiments, constructs, undead, and 'others 'also count as non-people. The people working for me are working to kill me because there are no consequences, and whoever kills me gets all of my wealth and all of my companies, outright."
"So... I could have been a millionaire if I'd been able to?..."
"No, you'd be much, much richer than that." she laughed dryly "But you still could be."
Her voice turned serious "I need you to go out and actually fight crime, Candy. I need you to earn the rank of Angel, earn your name."
"Why?" I asked, dreading the answer. I didn't want to fight, I wanted to get popular, to take it easy, to be a mascot, why did everyone keep wanting me to fight?
"Whatever your power evolves into when you become an angel, it'll almost certainly be enough to take me out." she said "It was almost enough now, if you were a just little faster, and you didn't have to worry about mana draw."
"...Oh." I said "I really just want to be popular, ma'am, I can't fight, I don't have any useful powers, I can't-"
"You have those, right?" she asked, pointing at the large pile of gummies in my lap. "That's more than enough to fight with for a while. Keep some in a bag in your pocket, and eat one when you find crime. I saw what eating that pie did, you'll do fine with those."
"Ok, but- what if I accidentally find and fight crime that you're doing?" I asked "I already did, kinda..."
"My type of crime isn't the kind that you'll see on the streets." she said "You'll need to look in the skyscrapers, courtrooms, and banks for what I do."
"There's no one in my area, though." I said, hoping to convince her to drop it "No people means no crime..."
"Then step on some toes." she snapped "Go to other areas, poach fallen fights, make yourself known."
"That won't make me very popular..." I said, feeling panic starting to rise panic
"Well, you'll do it anyway." she said "I am demanding that you fight, so you will fight."
Again, the unspoken threats sounded louder than her words. I blinked back tears, this wasn't how I wanted my career to go at all. I was basically working for a super villain at this point if I did what she said. Granted, the job was 'be the best hero you can be and stop crime', but it still felt sour to work for someone like that, even if what they asked you to do was a good thing.
"I'll... do my best." I said, gathering the worms off of my lap and standing up.
"Here..." she said, handing me a cloth bag from a drawer under the bar "Put them in here."
I dumped the worms in, and took the bag from her, my hand brushing hers. I saw stars again, and tasted sour. I blinked, and she was holding a gummy worm, looking at it thoughtfully. She pushed it into her mouth, past the sharp teeth, and chewed slowly, her eyes narrowed. She looked at me for a moment, then swallowed.
"Interesting..." she muttered "You should put your gloves back on. It's time for you and your companions to leave."
I nodded, and held the bag in my teeth as I slid on one, then untied the other from around my neck and put that on too. I looked at her and felt a chill as she watched me. I felt like a monster being eyed up by an adventurer, except I wasn't in danger of dying, I was in danger of being enslaved. As long as I did what she said though, fought hard and tried to earn angel, it sounded like I'd keep my freedom. Still, I got the feeling that as long as I was in Valley City, me and everyone else here were, at least in some way, under her thumb.
~~~
The four of us sat on the roof, legs hanging over the edge. Our shift wouldn't be over for another hour and a half, and none of us really felt like going out and patrolling at the moment. The bag of worms felt heavy in my hands, and I moved it to the rooftop behind me. I glanced at Lucy, who was being quiet for once, her legs drawn up to her chin as she stared out over the city. I felt bad she'd had to get wrapped up in all this. Mod was an adult in her own rights, and me and Sera were a lot older. I was at least four years older than Lucy, and Sera was in her... maybe early 30s? It was very hard to tell with the way her face shone. Lucy was still a teenager, and one who felt like a teenager too. This was weighing heavily on her, and I wanted to say something, to be the person who could help her through it and make her see me in a better light, but I was still going over my own thoughts and ideas, still stressed and sick over having to work for her, even if it wasn't anything too bad.
"So..." Lucy said, finally breaking the silence "You got some free candy out of all this at least, huh Angel Rouge?"
I looked back at the sack of worms and bit my lip "...yeah, I guess so."
"Why did she give you sweets, anyway?" Mod asked, her eyes glowing dully as she looked over at me
"It's complicated..." I said, not wanting to tell the others that I repeatedly tried to kill someone just a little while ago.
"Is it... because of your name?" Sera asked, looking up from rubbing the deep gashes on her wrists where the ropes had burned into her flesh
"...Huh..." I said, thinking about it "That would be pretty stupid, but maybe."
We sat quietly for a few minutes more, and once again, Lucy broke the silence
"You're not, by the way." she said, looking at me
"What?" I asked, giving her a funny look
"A stuck up asshole. I called you one earlier, but I was trying to make a joke, I wasn't serious."
"...Oh." I said, unsure how to respond. I'd forgotten about that in all the chaos.
"I just kept thinking, like, while you were in that weird house, like, if you were being killed or something, you'd die thinking I thought you were a stuck up asshole. I don't know, it was stupid, but it felt important to tell you that you're not, it was just a bad joke."
I looked at her, her cheek resting on her knee, looking at me with a defiant, worried look.
"Well, thanks for telling me that. I try not to be a stuck up asshole if I can help it." I said
"I don't get an asshole vibe from you, not much at least." Mod said encouragingly
"I do." Sera said "I think you need to embrace your asshole self more, use it to grow stronger and more brutal."
"I saved your life, Sera, you don't get to call me an asshole." I muttered at her
"I think that means I can tell you the hard truths, and I know you won't be upset." she said, smiling smugly "You have a mean streak for sure; remember when I got my results back from the GGDS? I thought you were going to fight me then and there, you looked so full of hate and anger at my ranking... Not that I'd have minded the challenge if you had."
"...I'm working on it. I have a whole thing I'm working on right now, being less of an asshole is one of five things I'm working on." I said, embarrassed
"Self improvement is important..." Mod said "I won't pry, but the other four, they're not unhealthy for you, are they?"
I frowned "What, like a diet or something? No, you've seen me eating sweets all night long, I'm not on a diet."
"Ok, I was- I just wanted to make sure you weren't straining yourself." Mod said "I know Ki- someone I know struggles to balance her goals and her health from time to time."
I sighed. She was being helpful, but I didn't ask for help, especially not with that. I was doing fine on my own, and that's not even related to the stuff on the list anyway. Or... I guess it could help with steps one and two. And it was kind of related to step four, but- I didn't want her help, damnit.
I reached for my snacks, and stopped, remembering they'd been dumped on the roof we'd been kidnapped from. I wilted slightly, I wanted my sugar fix... I considered the gummy worms, but... those had power in them, it'd be a waste to eat one just because I wanted something sweet. I always wanted something sweet these days, if I ate one every time I had an urge, I'd be out in a couple days, and there'd be none left to augment me for when I needed to fight crime. Maybe I could get the girls to go to the convenience store with me, get some other stuff... Explaining why I couldn't eat the perfectly good candy sitting behind me instead would be a pain, though.
"So... what was in that little house, anyway? Besides gummy worms?" Lucy asked "You never told us what happened in there..."
I didn't really want to tell them, I wasn't going to tell them, it wasn't any of their concern, really. Still, they needed to know something. I thought for a moment, and sighed.
"She wants me to start branching out, fighting crime outside our section, seeking it out." I said. Which... was true.
"I think it's about getting rid of her competition." That was... less true.
"That's very against the rules..." Mod said "That violates the whole idea of having sections in the first place. Unless someone agrees to let you join in an existing fight, you need to report the crime to the GGDS hotline and let them dispatch someone."
"Well, the scary lady who knows where my family lives wants me to fight crime outside my zone, so... I can't really say no." I said
"You could just ignore her." Sera pointed out "We could take her on if we knew to look out for her."
"No, trust me, we couldn't." I said, shaking my head "She showed off a little in that house, she's... I don't even know how anyone could stop her."
"I bet you could stop her..." Lucy said
"Let's not take that bet." I said firmly. "I'm going to be... I guess gaslighting as a hero, while... also being a different hero?"
"Moonlighting, not gaslighting." Lucy snickered. I rolled my eyes, they knew what I'd meant.
"Why not just be a hero?" Mod asked "Just go out as yourself, right?"
"Because I'd lose popularity and followers for breaking the rules, duh." I said
"Well, I'm pretty sure they'll notice the massive fuck-off wings either way." Lucy pointed out.
I grimaced. I hadn't thought of that...
"Well..." I said "I'll just... fight in my base form... I'm still pretty strong."
Plus I'd have the gummies to help out a little too, if I needed them.
"Our powers are made to work as a team, Candy." Lucy said "Driz is the combat healer, Galorna is ranged, Alele is tactics, and me and you get up close and personal while the others distract the bad guys and support us. Just me or just you doesn't work."
"Then why the fuck are we on patrol together?" I asked, annoyed at her logic
"Well..." Mod said "I'm mostly tactical, so, I can offer the support for you two?"
"Debbie wants us all to go out together, paired up with the others equally, to build bonds or whatever." Lucy said "It makes sense for us to like, know how to work together."
"Well, I guess I'm going to be going solo anyway." I snipped "At least off the clock."
"I'm just saying, if you had more than just you, it'd be-"
I cut Lucy off "Well it can't be you, because you'd never be seen dead in public untransformed, so it doesn't matter."
She stopped talking, looking at me hard, her eyes watering. I looked away, folding my arms as she kept staring at me. I felt the creep of guilt ease into my brain and I internally groaned. Maybe I was a stuck up asshole after all.
"Ok, whatever." I said "Sorry, I get it, I didn't mean it like that, but you can't be seen with me with your wings out anyway."
"...I was more thinking you and Alele, anyway." Lucy said quietly "For the tactical advantage."
"...Maybe." I said "I'd have to explain the situation to her, then."
"Were... were we not going to tell our teams?" Mod asked "I'm going to tell my team..."
"I am my team," Sera said smugly "and I'm all caught up."
"No- yeah, ok, whatever, we tell our teams, but only the basics..." I said "And I'm not explaining it all to Oori and Debbie, it'd just get complicated."
"Ok, yeah." Lucy said "I guess we'll have to text the team? We won't have another chance to all sit down for another two shifts."
"No, I want it verbal." I said "No writing."
"Writing can be very dangerous, and it can fall into the wrong hands so, so easily..." Sera said, sounding somber
"Yeah, exactly." I agreed "We can wait sixteen hours or so. I'll be sleeping most of that anyway."
"...So... changing the subject a little, I guess we need to find a new name for you?" Lucy asked "For your disguise."
"Ah!" Sera perked up "I can name you! To return the favor from when you named me Sera!"
"Wait, is Sera not your real name?" Mod asked
"It is now, my old name is sand on the shore, I am now and forever, Seraphim." she said proudly.
"Well, I guess..." I said reluctantly "Just don't make it anything weird, ok?"
"Of course!" she said "I'll call you... Comfit!"
"Did you say 'comphet'?" Lucy asked
"No no, Comfit! Comfits are my favorite candy, and Candy is my favorite person, and she's named Candy, so... I named her Comfit!"
"Aw, I'm your favorite?" I asked in a fake sweet tone "Huh, I feel like I knew that already... Anyway, I guess that's... fine, it's only a little weird. I've never even heard of a 'comfit' though, what is it?"
"It's a ball of spices, a bit of fruit, or a seed, covered in a sugar shell several times over." Mod said "At least, that's what the dictionary says."
"You have a built in dictionary?" Lucy asked "Nice, do you have a calculator app too?"
"I'm an artificial life-form, not a phone..." Mod said, sounding insulted "...but yes, I can compute math problems, if you must know."
"Dang, ok, what's the square root of-" Lucy started
"Stop, Lucy." I said, rolling my eyes at her "You wouldn't even know if she got it right."
"Oh, yeah... Sorry, Maud." she said "Well it's still cool."
I looked up at the stars in the sky as we sat in silence for a minute, watching the city around us twinkle as the various flying chosen dipped in and out of the buildings in the distance, doing what we should be doing right now. I yawned, it was late, I was tired, and there was no point in staying out of we were just going to be killing time instead of doing our patrols.
"Ok, let's just go ahead and get home." I said "No reason to sit out here all night."
"We'll get in trouble though, I don't want to-" Mod said
"No, we won't, because Sera is covering the last part of our shift, because we asked her nicely." I cut her off
"I never agreed to that, if anything I need to get home myself and get medicine on my wounds before they scar..." Sera said, frowning
"You don't actually have to cover for us, babygirl." I said "It's just our excuse, and if anyone asks, you covered, ok?"
"Ah, I see, very clever..." she said "I'll be your alibi, Comfit."
"Don't call me that in public." I said "Only in my Comfit outfit. Which... I guess I have to make, now..."
"So many names to keep track of..." Sera said under her breath
"Well!" she continued in a normal tone "I must away! I'll see you on the morrow, most likely, although whether you see me or not is another matter. Fare thee well!"
She took off into the skies, heading for her house on the northern side of the section, her glow lighting up the buildings as she passed them.
"That leaves us." Mod said "I'm running low on fuel anyway, that energy ball thing drained most of my reserves, I actually do need to get home early..."
"I'll see you later then, Mod." I said "It's been a pleasure."
It had been, actually. Not the 'getting kidnapped' part, but she wasn't as bad as I thought she'd be when I first met her.
"I still wanna hang out soon, hit me up, ok?" Lucy said to her as she lifted off.
Mod smiled and nodded, zipping off into the darkness toward the east.
I glanced to the left, I could just barely see our building poking up over the other buildings around it. It wasn't too far, but I was suddenly feeling very tired, which made it feel so much farther away.
"Ugh, I can't believe I have to take another shower when I get home..." I moaned "I'm covered in dirt and stuff under my transformation thanks to that stupid rope canceling my power."
"Do you not usually take a shower after patrol?" Lucy asked as we floated up and towards home
"No, I shower before, so when I de-transform I'm still all fresh and clean under all the magic."
"That's genius..." Lucy said "I never thought about that... I always just shower after I get home."
I realized that meant she'd need one too, and I groaned inside. I was trying to be better though, step five...
"Uh, you can take first shower tonight, if you want." I offered "I can wait a while, we're off early anyway."
Lucy looked at me, then down at the ground, her face scrunched in a complex frown.
"Well... Uh, if it's all the same... there's like eight showers in the locker room, I guess I could just... use one at the far end, and you could use one close to the door, nothing weird about that, right? we'd be like twenty feet apart, with walls between us..."
I looked at her in mild shock, was this progress for her? Or was it her being more comfortable around me specifically, trying to show me trust? Either way, I needed to encourage it.
"Yeah, that's a good plan." I said "Nothing weird about that at all."
We flew in silence, and I thought the night over. All in all, despite being terrified for the future, I think I was still making good progress on my list, and... even if the lady had tried to risk my chances at popularity, I'd still found a compromise. The hard part would be getting the rest of the team to understand...