I walked into the common room and crashed on the footrest, laying across it and I moaned. I'd been 'getting back out there' every day for a week, and while it was helping me get over Forica's death, it was exhausting to juggle two patrol schedules and two public appearance schedules. I'd been protesting as Angel Rouge with the Forican Monster's League, and I'd been doing speeches and standing behind booths at the Society for Non-Chosen Liberation meets for Chrissie as Comfit. I barely had any time for myself... The most recent rally we'd just come home from was at a museum that had old orcish relics that had been stolen from orc settlements and never returned, and we'd marched around the block ten times before setting up in front of the doors. I was about to pass out from the effort, I'd only gotten four hours of sleep the night before, and I was starting to get jealous of Drizti and Lucy who got to go on patrol today instead of joining us.
"I'm really impressed with how the rally went!" Galorna said, grinning "It was a good idea to join up with the Valley City Abomination Coalition, we almost doubled our turnout!"
"Well, most of the new marchers were actually still from the Society for Non-Chosen Liberation." Alele said "They're sister groups, they have a big overlap, I think Chrissie spread the word about the rally there and Ryllis spread the word in the Coalition."
"There were... a lot more people who didn't quite fit in than I expected..." I said "I saw at least four people I know are on the fallen watchlists, and at least a couple abominations who were minions for known fallen, this one wasn't even about abomination rights or anti chosen stuff like they'd care about, it was just about history, what gives?"
"It's not that big a deal, what matters is that we're getting the word out and bringing the groups together." Galorna said "We're feeding off of the pre-existing groups, and they're feeding off of us, as long as we can keep working together, we'll build a huge community of ex-monsters and abominations."
"It'll help us be more popular, right?" I asked, looking at my phone and wilting at my pathetic eleven thousand followers
"It can, yes." Galorna said, putting her feet up on the coffee table and flipping on the TV "But you'll have to be more proactive about it, since you're a human."
"I posted pics of me waving signs..." I said "I did the rally, I even got a selfie with Ryllis!"
"I'm proud of you for that, Candy, but we've got a lot of work to do." Alele reminded me "We need to not only be the driving force behind the movement, but the face too, on two fronts."
"This is a lot of work just to be popular..." I muttered
"It's... not about that?" Galorna said "It's about helping people, about making a change. If we were just trying to be popular, we'd go to schools and do free ice cream days in the lunch rooms like the Swag Squad does."
"Oh, actually..." I said, perking up "Can we do that? I'd love to do that..."
"I just said it's not about the popularity, Candy..." Galorna sighed
"Forica was all about the popularity, that was her whole thing." I protested "Just doing protests doesn't honor her memory, me getting to angel totally does. And, and, if we get popular, we have a bigger reach for the rallies and stuff."
Galorna was quiet for a moment and nodded "...Yeah, I guess so... You knew her better than any of us. If she'd want it to be about popularity, we... should respect that, otherwise we're just using her death as a prop."
I looked up, surprised. I was just being contrary and selfish, I hadn't expected to actually win her over. Still, now that I had...
"So, uh, ice cream in schools?" I asked
"Something else." Alele said "That's the Swag Squad's thing, we can do better."
"I can't think of anything that will get us more fans than free ice cream..." I said, frowning
"Well... we'll have a while to think about it." Alele said, standing up, popping her back "Chrissie asked us to meet her at the diner for a late lunch to discuss some outreach targets, like, an hour ago. I was able to convince her we were at the rally in our civilian clothes and had to go change, but if we don't show up soon she'll get suspicious."
"Noooo...." I moaned "I just want to nap, please..."
"You can nap when you're an angel, come on, get up and get changed. I want to know what kind of 'outreach' the SNCL thinks they need to do."
I rolled off the footrest and un-transformed "Whatever... I'll be down in a minute, I guess..."
"It'll be fine, and when we get home, we can take advantage of you wearing your bodysuit to cuddle!" Alele said cheerfully
I stood up and headed for the elevator. I wasn't going to be awake for cuddles, but it was still nice to think about.
As the elevator slid open, I felt a thwap against my shoulder and I slumped. I turned to see Galorna pointing her foam gun at me with a slight grin on her face.
"Enemies can attack even if you're tired!" she said "That's one point for me."
I hadn't expected to get the money in the first place, not really, so I didn't care, but... right now I was so tired it felt like her wasting my time was a bigger deal than the point. I flipped her off halfheartedly and got into the elevator. I just wanted a nap...
~~~
I slid open the food hole on my helmet and wondered the best way to get pancakes through it. It'd be easy enough to just poke them through if they were dry, but I'd already soaked them in syrup, so I'd get my helmet all sticky if I tried that. I sighed and slid the opening closed. I'd just take them to go...
"You know, you could have come in your regular clothes..." Chrissie said "It's not like I'd tell anyone who you used to be."
"We're too recognizable." Trigger Warning said, her voice low and calm "Trust me, we can't go out without the helmets. Even at the rally we were disguised."
"Well. That's not ominous or foreboding at all. I'm absolutely not going to wonder if I'm spending time with murderers now, not at all." Chrissie said, frowning "I'm glad you guys have been helping with the Society for Non-Chosen Liberation, even if you're too busy to make it to everything, but I've got... a small favor to ask you two..."
"What kinda favor?" I asked, tilting forward at her
"Well, as I'm sure you've noticed, we've been teaming up with a couple other groups lately, ones more focused on... hero work? And I was wondering if you two, you know, being heroes and all, would help us to get some... borderline heroes to join up with our groups... I don't care which of the groups they join, we're talking about merging into one collective anyway, but they need some people to get in contact with them. They need help from someone."
"Who are you looking at?" Trigger Warning asked "Anyone we'd know?"
"Big profile cases, yeah." Chrissie sighed, pulling a folder out of her bag and setting it on the table "All people who were screwed by the whole 'gods and chosen' system, in one way or another."
"Let's see them!" I said, pointing to the folder
"Wow, ok, just diving right in, I love that enthusiasm... Uhh, ok, the first one is Ayesha Talpur, a young woman that was chosen by the god Gorishikek about a year and a half ago..." she said "She was taken into containment by the Queens almost at once, and only recently escaped due to a large scale breakout of their containment cells earlier this week."
"She sounds... familiar..." I said
"She should, she was all over the news." Chrissie said, pushing a picture of a grey puddle on a concrete floor over to us "She got the power to dissolve anything she touched and absorb it, and to control her mass accordingly."
"Holy shit that's powerful..." Trigger Warning said "I do remember her, she asked to be stripped of her powers but they couldn't because she wouldn't exist without them... How did they keep her contained? And why bother?"
"She was there willingly, mostly. Just never bothered to digest her holding tank. They said they could help her, so she went with them and let them lock her up. As for why she was contained at all... she fell away from her church almost instantly..." Chrissie said "The power came with the tradeoff that her body was replaced with the grey puddle you see in the picture, she couldn't even move under her own power. They had to scrape her off the church floor and into a fishtank when they found her. She fell because... obviously, who could worship someone who did that to you?"
"That's... the worst power I've ever heard of..." I said, having a new appreciation for my own power
"She'd been seen around section 384 since the breakout, she can move around on her own now, and talk a little, so if you can find her, we can get her on the team. We have connections with a creeping one who can help train her to use her new body, and we've got a therapist who can put in hours too."
"We'll do our best, of course." Trigger Warning said "She sounds like she needs serious help..."
"Yeah, the Queens' tactic is to just lock up their victims and throw away the key. She never got any of the help she was looking for from them, and she just got fed up, helped the others escape when the breakout happened. Her situation is why the breakout was so useful to us, or situations like hers." Chrissie said "We've got a dozen or more escapees on the streets who hate the system and are willing to help. We can use that, starting with Miss Talpur here."
"You mentioned there were others?" I asked, waving at the file
"Yup, the next two are victims of a fucked up super scientist called Father Wright who tried to sell toys that acted as the buyer's conscience. We know one's name is Tipsy, they were in containment, but the other's an unknown. They're walking soul jars, they look like dolls, but they're living beings ripped right out of the rebirth cycle and re-animated. One of them fought Miss Missile and got away, and the other, Tipsy, was captured. The unknown one is the one who broke the rest of the prisoners out, seemingly just to get to Tipsy and get them out. They've been seen together in sections 80 and 34 since."
"Oh... shit, Kurk mentioned one of them to us." Trigger Warning said "I think we got attacked by it..."
"Perfect! They'll recognize you then!" Chrissie said "Just let them know we can preserve their safety without risking them being used as magic materials. I'm sure they'll be an easy get. The last person of interest I have for you guys to try and get is... a tricky one..."
"What do you mean?" I asked "A hard sell?"
"No, just- ah, a bit of a mess." Chrissie sighed "Her name is Gemia, and she's a goblin super scientist. She's... well, she treats the whole chosen and fallen game like what it is, a game. She had a mech with weapons like 'death lasers' that shoot ketchup, or a gatling gun that shoots tomatoes, or a shockwave cannon that made anyone hit with it start sneezing. She mostly pulled pranks, swapping all the store's signs on main street, making a beard-gun and attacking a beauty pageant with it, once she even made all the big TVs in city square play a video of her dancing on the mayor's desk..."
"She was in containment?" I asked "She sounds harmless..."
"She was in containment because she targeted the Queens' charity ball a few months ago and tried to turn the wine into vinegar. She fucked up her machine and turned the wine into blood by mistake, making her invention a class 3 bio-weapon and making her a bio-terrorist." Chrissie explained "She's very harmless, but she absolutely won't take you seriously. Comfit, you're why I'm asking you guys to go after her instead of asking my friends on The Unchosen."
"Why Comfit exactly?" Trigger Warning asked
"She can match the goofball energy..." Chrissie said "She's been seen in the 120s, so... your targets are all spread out, sorry to say."
"It feels like we just got marching orders from a dispatcher..." I said
"Thanks!" Chrissie smiled at us "I've been working on being more commanding and in charge recently, my daughter is a handful, and I need to be firm with her. I'm glad it's helping out at my job, too!"
I was slightly relieved to hear she'd been reunited with her daughter, but I was a little worried that meant she'd bring her to a meeting at some point... I was guessing she'd met up with The Unchosen the night Ryllis took the poster of the daughter and went somewhere with it, but it wasn't my business. I looked at the targets in front of me and felt myself crumple up inside. So much for free time for the next... ever...
"When would you like us to start looking for these targets?" Trigger Warning asked
"As soon as possible, really. I have other people looking for some of the other escapees, but these require more experience..." she said, pushing the picture of the goo towards us "Miss Talpur is the biggest target right now, if the Queens' personal threat assessments are right, she's at least a fourteen on the response scale."
"A fourteen?!" I said, my head snapping up "She's a puddle! The Southern Winds were only a twelve and they wiped out a whole national park!"
"I don't know the details, maybe they think she can grow really big if she eats enough?" Chrissie said, folding her hands under her chin and looking serious "All I know is that we need to get to her before she fights anyone and uses her level fourteen threat rating."
"You're really enjoying this whole 'commanding a hero team' thing, aren't you?" I asked, crossing my arms
"...Yeah, I really am." she nodded "Fuck chosen and fuck the system, but damn if it's not fun to boss people around..."
~~~
"Look, we can get Sera to cover for us when we get back, she'll do it, too! We helped her with that gas station fire she started earlier this week, she totally owes us." Alele said as we walked the streets of section 384 "We can cuddle all night and fall asleep in front of the TV eating- well, I'll have pizza, you can have..."
"Dessert pizza, with the marshmallows and chocolate and white sauce." I said "I'm ordering from Pizza Pallor if we do this."
"Ugggh... they only do those Second City style pizzas though... The sauce drips everywhere..." she moaned
"They also do dessert pizzas, and Stacie's Pizza doesn't." I pointed out
"Fine, I'll put up with soggy, doughy pizza casserole, for you..." she relented "But you have to at least try a bite of it."
"Fine by me, I like the deep dish stuff." I said, nodding "Or, I did... Lorgiaia might have changed that..."
"Have you eaten anything real since you ate that burger like, weeks ago?" she asked softly
"I had an egg sandwich last week." I said "It took almost two hours, but I finished it. I just don't think it's worth trying to get used to it again, my body is magic anyway."
"It's still sad you lost like, seventy percent of food all at once." she said "It'd be different if you chose this, but... It's not fair."
"It's... fine, I guess." I said "I don't miss it."
I looked up at the sky and saw a familiar winged shape drop down into an alley in the next section over "Hey, I think I just saw Sera, we should catch up and see if she'll cover."
"Oh, that's lucky!" Alele said "Fem-Butch is sounding more and more convincing about her theories the more we know to look out for it..."
"Theories?" I asked, frowning
"Oh, right, you've got the mental block thing... never mind, it's just something I've noticed." she sighed
We made our way over to the place I'd seen Sera drop, and looked around. There was no sign of her, but there was a muddy streak leading off down a side road, and I got a sinking suspicion she'd killed someone again... I ran down the road, following the trail, and rounding the corner to see Sera, wraps on, sword over her head, glowing brilliant gold.
"I shall end your pathetic life, heathen!" she said, her sword sparkling in the sunlight as she pointed it at a dumpster
"Hi Sera, I was wondering if you could cover my night shift?" I asked, walking up beside her "I've been working doubles all week and I really just wanted to cuddle with Trigger Warning for tonight..."
Sera lowered her sword and looked at me, a smile flexing the bandages on her face "Comfit! It's been too long. I'd be more than happy to help you out, but I must ask, when will we cuddle again? I've missed the powerful warmth of your body."
"Are you hitting on my girlfriend? In front of me?" Trigger Warning asked, crossing her arms.
Sera glanced back and nodded to her "I am! I wish to cuddle her as well. She's the only person in this city who might beat me in a fight, I respect her."
"Oh." Trigger Warning asked "Uh, ok, respect. Go ahead, we're not exclusive."
"I didn't need your permission, but I'm glad you've given it." Sera said solemnly "I was in the middle of purging a spawn of evil from the world, I chased it to this garbage bin, would the two of you like to help me smite it?"
"What does the evil look like?" I asked, frowning at the stains on the ground in front of the dumpster
"It looks like a spawn of Elmaem, but one far removed from the source... It had a voice like a thousand screaming animals, and it was formless like a void of death..." she said ominously
A grey, dripping hand raised up out of the dumpster "Hey, not a spawn, just a lady with a condition, please don't smite me..."
Her voice did sound like it was layered, like multiple people talking at once, and her hand oozed and shook like she was having trouble holding it up.
"Wait up Sera, this isn't an evil creature, it's a lady who was cursed by the god she worshipped." I said "We were trying to find her and keep her safe, actually."
"She's... a person?" Sera asked, walking up to the dumpster and peeking in "She's a puddle... A puddle that's eating garbage juice."
"She's just the result of a god not thinking a power through well enough before giving it to someone." Trigger Warning said "Her name is Miss Talpur."
"I'm going by NK these days, actually." the layered voice echoed out of the dumpster "Or... I guess Inky, because that's what everyone calls me. This garbage tastes awful, can I please come out?"
"If it tastes so bad, why do you keep eating it?" Sera asked, cutting a hole in the bottom of the dumpster with her sword
"I can't help it, I don't have a mouth anymore..." Inky said, oozing out of the hole. Her grey slime was streaked with black and was slightly chunky, but the lumps were fading and smoothing out as we watched. 'Bubbles' were forming and popping on her surface and the syllables of her words came out of the holes left behind as her body shifted "I taste everything I touch, and I see from every inch of my body, I hear everything so loud, it's like one of those tanks psychics and mages sit in to focus, but inside out, all the time."
"That sounds... horrible..." Trigger Warning said, shuddering
"So why were you eating the garbage?" Seraphim asked, crouching and poking the pile of grey goo with her sword
"It's like, if I have to taste it, I might as well eat it..." she bubbled, and her body drooped "I lost most of my mass when I escaped and slid all the way over here, I need to re stock..."
"I suppose you are far too pathetic to be a rouge spawn of Elmaem..." Sera said sadly "Will my hunt be forever thwarted..?"
She stood up and looked at us "Well, we have her, as you wished, what did you want her for?"
"Oh, right!" I said, stepping forward "We're with... uh, well it's a lot of different groups, but right now we're with the Society for Non-Chosen Liberation."
"I... am actually a chosen, though?" Inky said, her body sloshing back and forth "That's the whole point, I was chosen and it sucks."
"Yeah, We're chosen too." I explained "It's more like, chosen shouldn't be the ones who are in charge and make laws and control people, and the gods that are using us are evil for doing that. Me and Trigger Warning are heroes, but like, we fell away from our god, so like, we're rejecting the system and fighting back. We thought you might vibe with that."
"Can I join this group?" Sera asked "I would like to make allies with more people, and the heroes I meet are usually just upset with me for following my quest in their areas."
"Uh, yeah, you can..." I said, wondering if that was a good idea "Just talk to The Unchosen about it, they're friends with the leader."
"What's in it for me if I join?" Inky asked, a vaguely head-like shape forming out of the slime
"Well... you won't have to eat garbage." Trigger Warning said "You'd have a nice tank somewhere quiet and safe, and Chrissie said they'd be able to help you learn to control your body, she mentioned lessons with a creeping one? And uh, therapy? And food too, if that's something you need..."
"Everyone needs to eat, I didn't stop having to eat just because I'm goo..." she said "What's in it for them?"
"I don't actually know?" I said "It's... like a charity I think, and they'd probably ask you to help represent the cause at meetings and rallies?"
"...Ok, fine, I'll join. It's better than eating garbage juice, I guess..." she said "Tell them I don't eat boar or beef though, if they do feed me."
"Of course!" I said "Thanks for joining, we're trying to get more eyes on us and you'll help a lot."
"This resolved very nicely, without any kind of violence whatsoever..." Sera said, putting her sword on her back between her wings "So if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go find some violence to do before I have to cover for your cuddles tonight."
"Oh, uh, don't kill anyone!" I called out as she lifted off
"Thanks for your help finding our target!" Trigger Warning said
"If I run across Spacegirl, I do intend to kill her, but I have no further plans for death this afternoon." Sera said "I'll see you another time, my friends!"
She took off into the sky and headed deeper into the city. I watched her go, it'd been a while since I'd seen her. She'd swung by right after Forica died and given me a flower and a bottle of liquor, but she'd seemed to be uncomfortable with the idea of grieving, and had left soon after she arrived. It was nice to see her, and nice to know she wanted to cuddle me more. I'd have thought her church wouldn't have liked that, but I didn't have any reason to have thought that, so I felt a little guilty that I'd assumed. Maybe her religion was nicer than she liked people to think...? Of course, she'd never tell us about it even if it was, so I was left to wonder.
"Alright... now that tall pale and murderous is gone..." Inky said "How are you guys going to get me to this society?"
I looked at Trigger Warning and we looked down at the puddle in front of us "Uh... Hang on one sec..." I said
I pulled out my phone and dialed Chrissie's number "Heyyy, yeah, no, no worries, uh, we found the first target, she's willing to join, one problem... How do we get her to you? And where is... you?"
~~~
"I should have used a fucking gummy..." I moaned, tugging on the wagon "My arms are killing me, Why didn't I use my super strength granting edibles again?"
"Because you have a limited amount, we talked about this..." Trigger Warning gasped, pushing the wagon from behind
"I wish I could help somehow..." Inky said "I feel bad just sitting here."
"At least the dolls won't be this hard to transport..." I muttered
"I... need the tank back, by the way." Chrissie said, walking alongside us "I had my and my daughter's pets in it, they're in a food container right now."
"What, like fish?" Inky asked
"Uh, no, like... uh, bugs." Chrissie said "Look, we had one of our members go to get a bigger tank for you, a hundred and ninety gallon one, I just need my little forty gal back tonight."
"Is it much farther?" I asked "We're already past the time we were supposed to- Well, we're missing our date at least."
"Aw, you two are dating?" Chrissie asked "That's fun! I've heard the odds of that are pretty high for chosen, at least ones on the same team. Oh, and we're right up here, across from The Unchosen HQ."
I looked up to see the familiar garishly painted building in front of us, and sighed in relief "Oh gods, finally..."
"You keep complaining about carrying me and you'll make a girl self conscious..." Inky said "Mm...Actually, I don't think I could hate my body any more than I already do, never mind."
"I'll go ahead and see if it's all set up!" Chrissie said, and ran ahead to the much less brightly colored storefront across the street from The Unchosen's base
"She seems nice." Inky said "Not who I'd pick to run an organization like this, but she's nice."
"Her kid is an abomination." I said "I don't think she's 'officially' in charge, she's just the one who does everything..."
"Oh, shit, what does her kid look like?" Inky asked
"A squiggly bug-human hybrid thing." I said, shivering
"I've never seen the kid myself, but I've heard she's got Chrissie's face, so, that, on a bug." Trigger Warning said
"Ok, ok..." Inky said "I think if she can love that she can put up with me, that's good to know."
Chrissie ran back, her shoes slapping on the ground as she got closer "Come on, come on! Dahlia has the tank in place!"
We redoubled our efforts and pushed the wagon forward to the opening, straining to get the wheels over the door jam, but it finally jumped over and rolled in, Inky sloshing back and forth as she rolled into the shop. A small... robot? Drone? Something, a metal girl with long black hair in a black lolita dress, greeted us with a wave.
"Yo I got the new crib all set up! She'll be cozy af in there, and she's got like, all the space she needs."
"Uh, thanks, and... hi?" I said, holding my hand out to the new girl "I'm... Comfit, you are?"
"Name's Dahlia, yo. I'm the first member of the Society for Non-Chosen Liberation safe home, no doubt." she said, her fluffy skirt bouncing as she struck a pose
"I'm Trigger Warning." Trigger Warning said "I'm guessing the people we recruit will end up here?"
"No doubt..." Dahlia said, bobbing her head confidently "Gonna be a real fam up in this bi-i-i-i-biz."
Her voice glitched at the end, and she twitched uncomfortably, but she didn't seem to mind.
I looked around at the room and tried not to wrinkle my nose at how disgusting it was. Wrinkling my nose was the trigger for the face on my helmet to flash sparkles, and this room did not deserve sparkles. The lights were dim and yellow, the carpet ended halfway into the room, torn up and missing for the whole back of the room, there was a small cot covered in wires and lights in one corner, the walls were covered in a sickly green flower patterned wallpaper, and the only other door in the place was open to what was arguably the smallest bathroom I'd ever seen. All in all, the room looked like it needed way more work before it was livable. That said, the two people who'd be living here didn't need the same utilities as us normal people, so maybe it'd be ok...
"This place is... terrible." Inky said "My cell in Queens' Tower was better than this."
"We're gonna fix it up, I swear..." Chrissie said "We're... well, we weren't expecting to use it so soon, but Dahlia showed up a few days ago, and then there's the breakout, and... we had to fast forward."
"At least the tank is pretty big..." Inky said, admiring the large tank in the center of the room
It was a plain, empty glass tank about six feet wide, without a lid. I pushed the wagon up to it and Inky surged forward, her mass cresting the lip of the tank, and the rest of her followed, sucking and sloshing as she splashed down into the bottom. She surged left and right, sloshing around, her body not quite filling the bottom of the tank, and she raised a hand out of her mass in the vague shape of a thumbs up.
"This is fine, yeah. If you wanna help out more... I could really use some food, get the taste of garbage juice out of my... me..." she said
"Oh of course!" Chrissie said "What do you eat?"
"Anything that's food. Long as it's not red meat." Inky said "Just drop it in the tank, please."
"Absolutely." Chrissie said "Guys, do you want anything? The Society's paying tonight!"
"I'm good." I said "I want to get home for my date."
"And I'm the other half of that date." Trigger Warning chuckled
"Damn, ok, well... I guess I'll see you later then!" she said, and dashed out the door
"Dang, yall are out here busting your butts and gettin' cozy, I dig." Dahlia said "Hey, uh, if y'all wanna hang some time, hit me up, aight? I wanna get more peeps, Maud's cool as ice, she's my main girl, but I wanna branch out, yo."
"I'll keep you in mind, but I got a lot to do these day, babydoll..." I said gently, pretending to be disappointed "Being a hero on the run and a political activist is more than a full time job. I'm sure I'll see you around, though!"
"Ah, yeah, for sure, for sure..." she said, looking downcast
"Hey, we can hang out, robot girl. I don't care." Inky said "I'm NK, or like, Inky, I guess. I was in solitary for eighteen months, you can catch me up on what's happened while I was locked up!"
"Yo, I, uh, lived in another dimension until, like, last week fam, but... I can tell you about that?" Dahlia said, walking over to the tank
"That explains the lingo..." Alele said over coms, and I snickered
"We're heading out, guys." I said "We might have a few more... uh, family members? To add to your group soon? We'll be back either way though."
"Catch you on the flip side!" Dahlia said, shooting us finger guns
"Ok, thanks for bringing me here, it's... a step up from a dumpster if nothing else!" Inky said, her echoing voice sounding like laughter
We walked outside and I sighed in relief, I was finally, finally off... And I had at least fourteen hours left before my next scheduled event as Angel Rouge. That meant I could spend at least four hours just zoned out with my girlfriend before falling asleep. I wished it'd been six, but I'd take what I could get. I pulled out my phone and started to order the pizza as we walked home, I wanted to start the evening as soon as we could...
~~~
I curled up against Alele's arms and frowned at the knocking sound that had woken me. Someone was at the door at this time? I knew our team didn't have any sense of regular hours, but it was still rude to wake someone up at... I cracked my eye and looked at the clock on the TV's screensaver... five thirty in the morning?! I had to be at an informational booth at the park in four hours... The good one, with the ducks. I carefully slid out of Alele's arms, grabbed my toy gun with the foam launcher, made my way over to the door, and swung it open to chew out whoever was bugging me and Alele, I angrily and sleepily pointed the dart gun at... no one? The hall was empty, but the knocking continued.
I looked around the room quickly, trying to find the source of the noise. My eyes slid around, hovering over the locked fridge for a second, my heart twisting, but the noise was closer than that... I closed the door and walked over to the couch, and looked around, then froze, and glanced up at the window. In the glass, barely visible through the refection, was a tiny figure with spider-like limbs reaching out around it. It saw me looking and waved at me with its small, fingerless hand. I steeled myself and stepped forward, and reached for the window, opening it slowly. As soon as it was open a crack, the figure slipped in and hopped to the the floor, the spider 'legs' coming out of it extending until it was almost level with my face.
It was a doll, some kind of knitted thing, with black eyes and no mouth. It was a girl doll, with a blue dress, white tights, and a curly brown bob on her head, with a small beret. The legs that jutted out of her body at odd angles were... wires, of some kind, and she was hanging from them, using them to move around. This was the unknown doll I'd agreed to find, and absolutely was the scary thing that choked me and followed me home last month, too. I stared at her, and she looked back at me, and I frowned, she wasn't making a move... She was here for a reason, but not a fight... I pointed to Alele sleeping on the couch, and put my finger on my lips, then waved the doll towards my bedroom, her wire legs tapping and clicking as she followed me in.
I gently closed the door and turned the light on, and turned to look at the doll, crossing my arms.
"Alright, what do you want?" I asked crossly
"What, no chit chat first?" she said, a small mouth appearing on her cloth as she spoke "Ok, fine. First off, I heard you were looking for me, why?"
"I was supposed to bring you to a safehouse- who even told you?" I asked
"I have my sources..." she said ominously "What kind of safehouse?"
"Your 'source' would have had to have been Inky, she's the only other one who knew, so you've seen the safehouse, she's in it." I said "Were you following us?"
"I... was, yeah." the doll admitted "I saw you had her in a tank when you passed through where I'm staying, and I followed and listened in. I didn't know that building was a safehouse."
"Well... what if it hadn't been a safehouse, what if I'd wanted to kill you?" I asked "You just come in here and act all spooky, what if I'd have attacked?"
"I... was going to threaten to get my associate to tell the world about your secret identities if you tried to hurt me." she said "They're hiding close by. It was a two step plan."
"How did- oh..." I looked down at myself, still wearing my Comfit outfit, in my apartment, in a building that said "Lorgiaia's Angels" on the side in ten foot letters "...Fuck..."
"Anyway, I don't want to go to a safehouse." the doll said "I have stuff to do. Tipsy though, they need to be there. Can I drop them by?"
"We really wanted both of you there..." I said "I don't know, I guess? What stuff do you even have to do? You're a doll."
"I'm not a doll, I'm a person from another world, I want to go back there." she said "I have to be able to get around the city to make the connections I need to get home, I can't do that from a safehouse."
"Why did you have to tap on my window in the wee hours of the morning, couldn't you have just... talked to me?"
"I was trying to scare you, put you off your game, like that night I followed you home." she said "Look, can I bring my friend to the safehouse or not?"
"I don't- fuck, fine, whatever..." I said "But if someone gets you and straps you into a magi-cannon, don't say we didn't try to help."
"I'm careful, geez..." she rolled her eyes "Alright, I'll take them over there and then I'll be back here to figure out our strategy."
"What strategy? What? Did I miss something?" I asked, throwing my hands up and glaring at her
"Oh, right, uh, I forgot to tell you," the doll said "I'm kinda also blackmailing you into helping me get home."