I kicked a can down the road and whistled as it bounced, making an explosion noise with my mouth when it hit a building. It was a quiet night, no crime at all, and I'd done two full laps of our newly expanded range before coming back to the other girls. I'd hoped for a fight, something flashy and loud to get more followers on my Angel Rouge account but the night was quiet. I was up to about twenty thousand again since I'd started posting more about the protests and stuff, and I was just slightly shy of one hundred thousand as Comfit. I could merge now honestly, but the wait would be fine too. I was already planning how I'd do it, I'd still use Angel Rouge as the 'main' persona for public events, but I'd have Comfit be my untransformed persona on the streets and at rallies, with Ravel riding my shoulder or providing intel from the rooftops. I'd be focused on people and face-to face interactions as Comfit, and have the ethereal, disconnected beauty Lorgiaia represented as Angel Rouge.
I hadn't seen anyone else juggle two hero identities publicly before, but if I made it clear that they were both me and that I had the legal right to operate as Comfit, the GGDS couldn't do much. That's why the whole 'anyone who follows me is my client' thing was so important, it made me an independent as well as a teamed hero. I'd been spreading that around on CirNet too, and mentioning it to fans when I ran into them; 'follow me so I can save your life!'. It was a sneaky trick, almost like I was exchanging services for followers, but it was working. I was crawling up at a steady rate, and it didn't seem to be slowing down. If a simple CirNet follow could be the difference between being mugged and being saved, who wouldn't follow?
"So, when are you going home?" Mourner asked me, glancing my way.
“Uh, I guess in an hour, around seven, when our shift is over?" I said.
“Oh you're not staying with us anymore?" Dahlia asked me, glancing my way.
"No, I'm still staying there, I'm- I want to give Cobalt more space." I sighed, rolling my eyes.
"Whatever, I just think it's time you went back to your team." Mourner said.
"You've been here for days after all." Dahlia sighed, rolling her eyes.
"It's a safe house!" I protested "I'm just- look, I'll be back home in a day or two, I promise."
"Uh huh, I'm just saying, we're a family, and we've got a lot of people joining lately, and when you just insert yourself like that, it messes up the dynamic." Mourner shrugged.
"I'm sorry, I'll... I guess talk to Alele next time I can, and get some closure on our situation, I might be able to head home tomorrow." I apologized.
"It's all the same to me, as long as you mind your business." Dahlia shrugged.
"I'm doing another lap..." I grumbled, and took off before Dahlia could grumble something back.
I looped in the air, high enough to be 'away' from them but still close enough to see them and hung there. I wasn't bothering them, was I? I just had a sleeping roll and a bag or two, the safe house was huge and had lots of empty space, I couldn't imagine they needed the spot I was lying in for anything. Did Mourner just not want me around because she didn’t like me? She was pretty direct with her comments, and she had been hostile my first morning there. I was pretty sure Dahl was just mimicking her, she'd been doing that all night, but if she was upset with me too, that made me not even want to go back to the dumb safe house. I could afford a hotel, not that there were any in our section, but I could fly back fast if I needed to. I didn't need to stay in a weird, mildly stinky, unfinished room. Fuck, if I could make up with Alele, I could even just go home.
I pulled out my phone and checked to see if she'd texted, but there were no new messages. The message I'd sent was green though, so I knew she'd read it... I frowned and drifted back over to where the other two were still walking. If I called her I might annoy her, and she already wasn't responding to texts, so I decided to call Drizti instead. I poked her number in and rolled back in the air as I heard the ring. Driz would know what's up, she'd have talked to Alele about stuff by now for sure. The line opened and I heard a familiar groggy mumble as she answered. I swore under my breath, I'd woken her, it was pretty early in the morning after all, the sun wasn't even up. I shook my head, too late now.
I was about to ask her about Alele when I heard a loud scream from below me. I tensed and hung up the phone, stuffing it into my pocket, I could talk to Driz whenever, I was needed here. I looked down at my partners and saw Mourner lying on the ground, holding her stomach. There was a figure in all black standing over her with a small gun, super science by the looks of it, and was turning to point it at Dahlia. I dropped out of the sky at full speed, my foot slamming into the figure and knocking them into the ground hard. They went limp and I heard a snap, and I kicked their broken form aside as I crouched beside Mourner.
"What happened?" I asked, rolling her over and trying not to think about the noise the guy had made when I landed on him.
She groaned, and clutched her right side, a smoldering burn mark going straight through it. "I- th-this guy just fucking sh-shot me..." she hissed "F-fuck, I'm losing sap..."
I watched in concern as a yellow-gold liquid pooled under her and her movements got jerkier under my hands. "Dahl, take the guy to the nearest GGDS center, I'm going to bring Mourner to the hospital." I said firmly
"No problem, I'll do that right away." Dahlia said firmly, wrapping the unmoving person up in her noodle-like arms.
She saluted and dashed off, her legs stretching out to three times her height as she loped off as fast as she could. I wrapped Mourner up in my arms, keeping my skin away from her bark, and flew up, ignoring her moans as I held her close. Her sap was getting on me, and I held back nausea at the thought of it. Forica's remains flashing into my mind over and over as I squeezed her to me. I zipped forward, vaguely in the direction of a hospital I knew of, when suddenly my leg flared with pain and I dropped Mourner.
I was vaguely aware of blood streaming out of my tights as I dove, barely catching Mourner as she shrieked towards the ground, but I couldn't correct in time, and we slammed into Dahlia as I went down, all of us ending up in a pile on the road. My cheek brushed Mourner's face and I got a wave of licorice from her as I tasted her spark. I yanked myself out of the tangle and looked around for where the shot had come from, there were more of them? Two people in black outfits walked towards me slowly, guns aimed at my head, and I froze, these guns had no sound, no projectile I could see, and no way of dodging them. They were dangerous, I could be killed at a moment's notice and never even realize.
Dahlia made a noise and lifted herself up by one arm to get a better view and in an instant one of the figures had aimed and fired at her. She screamed as her arm exploded at the base, coming off and squirming on the ground beside her as she crashed to the ground. I grit my teeth and blasted forward at the one who'd fired at her, If he was aiming at her, he wasn't aiming at me. I hit him full force as a blast took a chunk out of my shoulder and I cried out, crushing his upper arms in my hands as the other figure pointed her gun at me and fired. The shot hit the man in the head as I ducked behind him, and he went limp too. I charged forward at the woman, using the man's dead body as a shield, the shots ripping more and more flesh off his torso as she tried to use her gun to tunnel through him to hit me, but I reached her first. I slammed the man into her, knocking her over, and stomped on the hand holding the gun, feeling her wrist turn to pulp under my shoe.
I panted for breath as she looked up at me, and I took her in. Like the rest, she was wearing a solid black, lightly armored body suit, black gloves and shoes, and a black dome helmet. I looked at my reflection in the helmet and wondered if the people I'd fought at Comfit had looked themselves in the face at the end, reflected on their actions. Here though, it didn't really matter. It just meant I was looking at myself instead of looking her in the face, which was fine with me. I wasn’t being held, I wasn’t going to die, I wasn’t going to freeze up. I pushed down my feelings and emotions into my center and stepped on her neck until I heard a crunch. I waited until the wave of nausea passed, and I turned to the others.
"Do either of you know who the fuck those guys were?" I asked, scanning the area for more figures.
"Y-you k-killed them?!" Dahlia gasped out, holding her arm stump, oily brown liquid dripping out from around her fingers.
Mourner groaned and twitched, and I saw with shock that her head had been cracked when we hit the pavement, she needed medical help now.
"Never mind about all that, Dahl, call Mod, tell her to stay on the ground and look out for goons with guns, we need to get Mourner to a hospital."
"They-w-were people, y-you-" she stuttered, and I squeezed my eyes closed, shutting out her words.
"Look, they didn't respond to pain, they fired on their own troops, and they don't talk. They're either hardcore enough to be treated as a serious threat, or they're being controlled or something."
My mind flashed to the agents at the party and I bit my lip. I'd killed before, the mini fridge in my room was proof of that. There was a cold lump in my stomach, but I couldn't think about that right now, I needed to be a woman of action, I wasn't going to freeze up this time and let people die, I was going to fucking fight back. No one was dying on my watch except the people I wanted dead. I refocused on Dahlia and Mourner and shook myself.
"I'm going to call the GGDS, we need backup." I said, digging in my pocket, "Just lay low and get help, ok?"
I ran off down the street away from the bodies and the Unchosen, dialing the phone and holding it up to my ear. I had to figure out why our section was being attacked, were there more? Were they just in our area? The call clicked through and a female voice answered.
"Hello, GGDS offices, how may I help?"
"Angel Rouge," I said "I'm in section 245, I was patrolling with two of the Unchosen and we were attacked by people in black suits, they had guns that shot silent, invisible projectiles, all three of us were hit."
"Are you in a position to fight back?" the lady asked as typing sounds filled the line.
"I already did, I... ‘dispatched’ all three of them I could see, but there may be more. My teammates are down, one missing an arm, one with a head injury and hole through her torso. Another of their teammates should be on her way to help, but I need GGDS presence in the area in case there's other attackers."
"Copy that, we're sending a registered hero to 245 now, the closest we have currently on call is... Creamy, from 213. Look for white hair and-"
"Yeah, I know her, anyone else?" I asked, peeking down an alleyway.
"We'll try and mobilize some units, but if there's no active threat, we can't justify sending more heroes." she replied.
I swore and dashed across the opening to the other sidewalk, there could be any number of these guys out here, what did she mean it wasn't an active threat? Fuck it, I'd call my own people.
"Ok, I'll keep an eye out for Creamy then." I snapped, "Anything else?"
"Yes, if you could come to-" The line went dead and all the lights on the street flickered for a moment. I pulled the phone away from my face and felt a chill as I saw the signal was fully gone. We were in the heart of Valley City, we didn't have dead zones, this was bad. I was going to have to run a full forty blocks to get back to headquarters just to get the rest of my team, and I couldn't risk flying because I'd just get shot down again.
I glanced at the blood on my shoulder and frowned. It wasn't hurting as bad as I'd expected, mostly just throbbing right now. I ducked inside a doorframe and pulled at my top, examining the wound. It was a round shot, right through my flesh, with a spiderweb of burn marks around it, but it was charred, maybe that's why the wounds didn't hurt? The shot burned the nerve endings or something?
I took a deep breath, I needed to find another one of those people, if I could eat them, I might be able to heal back to normal... I swallowed and felt the sick feeling in my stomach twist, I knew I'd planned on eating people once I came out, but that was an abstract idea, not a plan to do it right here and now. Could I even do it? Would I be the same person I was now if I did? My face threatened to split into tears, but I held it in, no time for emotions at a time like this.
I saw movement across the street and I lunged to my right as the wall behind me popped with a crackling noise, a chunk taken out of the face of the building. I saw another one of the people in black across the street, a gun pointed at me, and I rolled, the ground spewing asphalt as the second shot missed. There seemed to be a second or two between shots, if I could just get to them in that time, I could end it, I could get healing, I could-
I ran forward as the gun retrained on me, and I slipped left as the trigger clicked. I yelped as the shot hit my right wing, punching a hole through it. Fuck, our wings could feel pain? I knew we could feel the air with them, but why did we need to feel pain? Why had Lorgiaia added that? I hit the person and took them to the wall, wrenching the gun out of their hand and clawing across their body for skin, anywhere to touch so I could fold them. My hands ran across cloth and armor, looking for a gap of some kind, but I didn't find anything. I'd have to tear the cloth open, I grabbed their armor and pulled, but with their hand now free, they pulled out a knife, sticking it into my ribs. I made a strangled sound as it jabbed in a full inch and I gave up, grabbing their helmet and slamming it into the wall, hard. I felt it give, and I panted for air as I tore open the armor and pressed my forehead against their bare chest, feeling nothing. Fuck, they were dead, I'd killed them, and now I couldn't fucking heal, fuck.
I leaned against the wall and tried to catch my breath, I'd killed four people in ten minutes, I'd killed four people. Why wasn't I freaking out? Dahlia freaked out, and I'd brushed her off with logic and cold reality, why wasn’t I feeling bad over it? Galorna had felt sick after her first kill. I saw Homicide as my first kill, but he wasn't 'dead', just locked away in a hell of my making. I grabbed my chest and heaved, trying to force the feelings to come out, had smothering my emotions a minute ago broken something? My wing had numbed, as had my leg, my shoulder, and my ribs where the knife dug in. Why the fuck was I so numb?
I needed Sera, I needed Alele, or Drizti, someone I trusted, someone I loved and could rely on to help me, to heal me, to get help, I was about to explode or bleed out, I wasn't sure which. Creamy was coming, she'd be coming from... let me think, 213 was to the north, so she'd be meeting me up a street or two. If I could get to her, she could glide me along the ground maybe? My wings made flying along side-streets hard, I needed space to glide and turn, but she coasted along on her wisps. She wasn't as fast, but she could get me to... Sera? Yes, Sera was the best option, she'd be able to heal me, and then I'd head to the safe house to get my gummies, then to the Angel's base to inform the girls. Honestly they might be looking for me already, hanging up on Driz and her losing signal to call me back had surely already made them aware something was wrong.
I limped along, feeling the throbbing in my leg sapping my strength and making it hard to run, but it still wasn't hurting. I rounded a corner and came face to face with another of the figures, and my hand snapped out, snapping her neck with a punch. She went limp and collapsed to the ground and I swore. I could have used her to heal, damnit! I still didn't feel the shock I should be from killing someone, I just saw her as... an obstacle, a block in my path. I moved as quickly as I could until I reached the end of the street, the one separating section 245 from 220, and pressed myself against the closest wall. I just needed to wait on Creamy now, then I could get to Sera...
A second later, I snapped awake as someone shook me, the sun finally cresting over the tops of the buildings. I screamed and flew back and up the wall, kicking out at the person who'd tried to touch me, my heel grazing their face. I heard them cry out and I froze, they made noises, not one of the bad guys then. I looked down, and saw a plume of white hair on a tan person in a white dress. She was holding her mouth, blood dripping out onto the pavement. I cringed, this team-up was already off to a bad start...
"You ki'ked m' fu'ing mouf!" Creamy yelled.
"S-sorry." I said, dropping to the ground, "I passed out, I thought you were one of the bad guys, I'm so sorry..."
She spit a mouthful of blood and flipped me off. Her lip was split and her chin had blood on it, I'd gotten her good. "Ugh, GGDS said you need help?"
"Yeah, there's these people in black that keep showing up and shooting at me." I waved at the holes on my wing, leg and shoulder "I've killed, uh, I think 5, but they keep coming."
Creamy looked at the small puddle of blood I'd been sitting in and winced, "Ok, and there's more? You're sure?"
"Yeah, I'm assuming." I nodded.
"So what do you need me for?" she asked, "I'm sure as stuffing not killing anyone."
"No, no I just need you to fly me, like, 40 blocks to Sera's place. She can heal me, and-"
"Wait, Sera, as in Seraphim the heretic hunter? She heals people?!" Creamy asked, askance, "Why doesn't she help out at hospitals instead of just killing innocent people all the time then?"
"It's never been proven she kills innocents, the court date isn't for another week." I snapped, "And no, she doesn't. We just have a... weird power interaction."
“Can't you fly yourself?" she asked, "I don't want to meet that psycho, proven killer or not."
"I have a hole in my wing, and I need space to fly, I can't navigate the streets as well as you. Last time I went above the buildings, I got sniped." I explained, "Just get me to Sera and I'll be fine, ok?"
"You're all bloody, Rouge." she snapped "I don't want to ruin my costume."
"Yeah, I get it, but sometimes we ruin costumes on the job, it happens. Remember Gemia's soda cannon?" I bit back, "I needed a whole new bodysuit."
"That wasn't you, that was-" Her eyes narrowed and she looked me up and down. "Wait, Comfit?! Are you moonlighting? That's against the rules!"
"Yeah, and after this mess and I get in the news again, I'll come clean and figure that part out." I waved my hands in frustration. "Can you please get me to Sera's? I don't know how long I was passed out, there could be more of those guys looking for me!"
She glared at me. "Some of us bust our butts to be popular, and you just cheat the system? That's horrible, you're making a mockery of being a Chosen!"
"Are you going to help me or not?" I asked.
"I have to, the GGDS requested it." she crossed her arms, "I'm not a rule breaker."
"Fine, thank you. I'll... share some of your posts once I merge my accounts, get you some more followers." I offered.
"Don't bother, I don't need the kind of followers you'll have." she scoffed "Come over here, tuck your wings, I'll bridal carry you."
"Just don't touch my skin." I warned her, leaning into one of her arms. "It'll kill you."
"Your skin kills people?!" she pulled away from my face as I swung my legs into her other arm, "Fuck, are you sick?"
"No, it's my power." I flushed. "It's fine, just don't get too close."
"You say that like I'm not holding you to my chest..." she made a face, "Ugh, I'm glad I went for a full coverage costume..."
"I'll guide you to Sera's house, it's in the north section of 247, on the east." I said, changing the subject.
"I know where it is, I avoid it. Like every sane person in this city." she said, lifting off and gliding down the street.
She moved fluidly, her white hair and dress fluttering behind her as the wisps of white pooled and smoked around her. I caught the scent of lilac and cherry and I wondered if she’d taste the same way her power did. We were making good progress, much faster than if I tried to limp. I kept my eyes peeled for any signs of the bad guys, but other than a few people on their way to work, the streets were empty. My wounds were starting to sting a little, and I noticed with mild satisfaction that the hole in my leg had bleed down Creamy's arm and gotten all over her front. It was petty, but it felt like payback of sorts for her not getting involved with Gemia.
We approached section 247 after several tense minutes of flying and I finally saw what I'd been watching out for the whole time. One of the people in all black was standing at attention in a doorframe, gun in hand. I grabbed Creamy's arm and pointed to the figure.
"There! That's one of them! We've gotta take them out!" I yelled.
She tossed me in their direction and cut to the side, her hand out and mist pouring from her palms towards the person. He whipped up his gun and fired off a shot at her, a perfect hole appearing for a moment in her puffy hair before closing itself back up. I shot forward, gritting my teeth as my wing finally decided to let me feel the hole through it, and I landed a fist in the man's side, shattering his ribs. He bent over and shook, a gurgling noise coming from under his mask. Creamy's mist rushed over him and solidified onto a foamy material freezing him in place. I stepped back, tears forming from the strain on my wounds. It had to have been adrenaline or something keeping the pain down, because I could barely move now...
"Ok, so now what? We can't call the GGDS." Creamy panted. "And my cream only lasts a half hour..."
"I-I'll eat him..." I said, reaching for his hemet.
"Wait hold the fuck up, you'll what?" Creamy asked, "No you will fucking not! What do you mean eat him?!"
"I- when I touch people, they become food, I can eat them to heal and get stronger..." I said, "I need to eat someone or I'll bleed out..."
"N-no!" she gasped, "That's fucked up, I won't let you! He's in my cream, if you eat him, his death is on my head too!"
I slumped. "Please, I need to heal, please? My god is ok with it, I just- I'm going to come clean to the public about my power soon anyway, and this guy's already possessed or brainwashed or something. I'd kill him even if you weren't here too, I swear."
"I bet you would." she said, crossing her arms again. "I- gods, how are you so casual about just killing people?"
"I've done it before." I said, feeling numb inside. "I felt bad enough to decide to never do it again, and when the time came for me to protect people, I didn't, and I lost someone I cared about."
I wiped the tears off my face. "If it's for people I care about, I'll do what I need to. It's ok."
"It's not ok, it's- it's murder." Creamy said, "You're a murdering murderer."
"Then Chap murders people, and Queen Vile, or Miss Missile, or any number of other heroes, it's not unique to me, Creamy." I said, trying to convince myself it was true.
She looked at me for a few moments, then back at the soldier in the foam. "...I'm not a killer, Rouge. I'm not going to become one, I refuse. I'll take you to the heretic hunter, then I'm coming back here to make sure this guy doesn't escape, our team-up is over."
I nodded. "Fine, just get me there quick. My wounds are really starting to hurt."
She held out her hands, and I lay back into them. She didn't look at me as we glided towards the one person I trusted would understand.
~~~
Creamy landed in front of Sera's house and set me on my feet. I growled and tried not to fall over. My vision was blurry and my body wasn't taking orders anymore. I pointed to the front door shakily and winced at the sharp pain from my shoulder.
"C-can you knock?" I asked.
She looked at me with pity and anger, but stepped forward to the porch. She was on the second step when Sera's door exploded outwards and one of the guys flew out, slamming into Creamy and knocking her over. She yelled and shoved the man off her, swinging at him, her mist solidifying into a block of foam around her fist as she hit his jaw. He stumbled backwards and Sera appeared in the door, her mouth dripping blood and her sword in her hand. Seraphim grinned wildly, watching as the man lifted his gun and fired, a shot plunging through Creamy's stomach. Creamy collapsed to the ground, screaming, curling around the wound, thrashing in agony. Sera stepped over her through the air and dropped her sword onto the man's head, splitting it in half with a crunch. She hissed in a breath, and giggled. yanking her sword free and turning to me.
"My beloved Candy, I should have known you'd have been mixed up in this too! I've killed two- no, now it's three of these odd people! This last one followed me home, stupid thing.” her eyes traced my wounds lovingly "How many have you killed, warrior?"
"F-five..." I wheezed, "N-none eaten, I n-need heals..."
Her three eyes widened and she giggled again, walking over to me, stepping over Creamy. "Even better than me! I'm so proud of you... You really are a woman worthy of my affections..."
She reached out her finger and pressed it into the wound on my shoulder and I gasped in pain, the sparks and bubbles flowing into me from her. I fell into her arms and she dropped the sword to catch me, her lips meeting my forehead. She broke the kiss as the fuzziness filled me and I heard her sucking my blood off her fingertip as my wounds closed. She held me tight as the holes in me sealed up without a trace, and I sobbed, breathing deeply in her grasp.
"You're ok, Candy. You've fought well." she cooed, "Are you ready to fight more?"
I sniffed and leaned away from her, my sight full of stars as I looked her in the face. "Y-yeah, I am. I- I need my gummies, then we should tell the others..."
"Alright, we can go get the gummies. Where are they?" she asked, petting my head
"The safe house, fuck, I gotta... we gotta make sure Ravel is ok." I said, ”She was there with Tipsy last night."
"Ravel is your doll, right?" Sera confirmed, "I'm sure no one is trying to hurt a doll, she’ll be ok. We can check for her when we get there."
"She's not my doll, she's my sidekick, she works for me, kinda." I explained, breaking the hug and instantly wishing I hadn't as the feelings of loneliness washed over me.
"Ah, I understand." Sera said, "And this one?" She pointed at Creamy, still on the ground.
"Another hero..." I said, eyeing the white mist pouring out of her stomach "Hey Creamy, are you ok?"
"Ughh..." she whimpered. "This is going to take hours to re-form, it was right in my guts..."
"But you'll live?" I asked.
She stood, still hunched over. “Y-yeah, I just need to make n-new organs..."
"Are you good to fly back to that one guy?" I asked, "You gotta go now if you are."
She flipped me off, and jerkily floated away in the direction we'd come, not looking at Sera.
"Candy? Can you fly now? Or do you need to be carried?" Sera asked, her hand finding the blood on my wing.
"I'm ok, can fly." I said, fluttering and stretching it under her fingers, "I'm sorry to borrow your strength like this."
She eyed the body on the road and hummed "It's fine. Wait here, I'll join you in a moment, my strength will return shortly."
She drug the body into her house and swung the partially broken door closed behind her. After a moment, she came out of the building, fresh blood stains on her face. She recharged from… eating, it seemed. I couldn’t judge, I did the same. We were more alike than I’d thought, apparently. She picked up her sword and put it over her shoulder between her wings, smiling at me.
"Shall we?" she waved in the direction of the Unchosen's base
"We can't fly very high, they'll shoot us out of the sky." I said, "Just down straight streets and stuff, keep an eye out for anyone dressed like- well, you saw them."
Sera trilled and flapped her wings. "Very well Candy, let us hunt!"
~~~
We touched down at the safe house, Sera out of breath and now a lot bloodier than she had been before we took off. I handed her back her sword and laughed nervously. We'd better not get in trouble for this, GGDS guidelines allowed lethal takedowns of mind controlled people using deadly force, we'd be fine, right?
"And with that, we are tied!" Sera said proudly, "Whenever you want to catch up, let me know and I'll go easy on you."
"Why'd you hide the bodies?" I asked her, "It's not like we're going to be arrested for them I think."
"I need them for later." she said, "It's a religion thing."
"Religion thing?"
"As in, don't ask questions."
"Oh, y-yeah." I didn’t know what happened if I learned too much about her god, but I really didn’t want to deal with that now of all times.
I walked to the safe house door and carefully pushed it open, poking my head inside. "Hello? Ravel?"
"Oh, sure, ask about her but ignore me right in front of you, I see how it is." Inky's voice came from the floor and I flinched. Her tank was smashed and her ooze was spread all over the carpet, a face poking up out of the mess. Someone had been here already...
"Oh, uh, what happened here?" I asked, looking around the room. It looked mostly untouched, although Gemia's robot had some holes punched in it where there weren't any before, and the bathroom door was knocked down.
"Some guys in black showed up and rounded everyone else up." she snapped, "They're across the street. They couldn't figure out how to pick me up, and they gave up when I dissolved some fingers."
"Why didn't you go over there and get them?!" I asked her angrily, "You can just melt the bad guys!
"I didn't want to have to taste the pavement on the way over." Inky said, "The carpet is bad enough."
"You selfish- ugh!" I stomped around her to my stuff and grabbed my bag. "I'm going to go over there and actually do my job, stay here if you have to, coward."
"K' I will." she said, and the face blew a raspberry at me.
I barely stopped myself from stepping in her, but held back. If she ate my sole, I'd have to float everywhere, and that sounded like it’d be more annoying than rubbing her tongue on my shoe would be satisfying. I shoved my way out of the front door and dug in the bag for some gummies, finding the sack and pulling out two. Sera raised her eyebrows at the sight of them, her bloody grin growing. I slung the bag onto my back and took a deep breath.
"They're holding Ravel across the street, come on, we're going in hot." I said, bracing myself against the pavement and shoving the worms in my mouth.
"Hot? What does-"
The world slowed to a streak as I took off, my fists out in front of me, punching through the terribly painted garage door like it was paper. The metal grabbed at my clothes and body, tearing my dress and tights as I entered the living room, the gashes the door made on my body healing as quickly as they appeared. Mod, Ryllis, and Chrissie were on their knees on the rug, Pendra, Tipsy and Ravel were in plastic food containers that had been taped shut, and there were four of the troopers around them, guns already drawn.
The world was still in slow motion as I put my fist through one's chest, then pulled another's arm off and chopped her in the throat with it. I felt two shots hit me in the chest, and I ignored them, driving my knee into the third one's crotch so hard blood spewed out of their mask. The fourth I took to the ground, their ribcage crumpling under me as I flew full force into the pavement with them under me.
I stood up and assessed the situation as time speed back up to normal again. My clothes were shreds, I was dripping with other people's blood, and my head was still spinning. Mod had a hole in her chest, Ryllis was bleeding weird pale yellow goo from her forehead, and Chrissie was hyperventilating. At least the little ones seemed ok. Ravel's legs were scrambling at the lid to get out, Tipsy was curled up in a ball, and Pendra was wailing at the top of her lungs, her ragged voice muffled through the plastic, but they were all unhurt.
Ignoring the others, I walked over to Ravel's box and ripped it open, picking her up out of it in my hands, trying not to worry about the blood smearing on her fabric.
"Are you ok? What happened?" I asked her as Ryllis crawled over to free the other two and Mod tried to comfort Chrissie.
"I- they didn't hurt me, I'm fine, boss." Ravel said, her body shaking and her legs twitching, "W-we were playing spoons, and they busted into the safe house. Gemia got away, but I never saw her after, they've just been guarding us for over an hour."
“S-spoons…” Tipsy muttered as Ryllis gently took them out of their box.
I hugged Ravel to my chest quickly as she tried to wiggle her way to my shoulder and I turned to Seraphim standing in the wreckage of the door. "We've gotta get to the base, if they came for these guys, they came for my team too."
"Candy, y-you killed them..." Ravel said, looking around at the room slowly.
"Is everyone going to be commenting about that today?!" I snapped at her, "They were mind controlled, it's fine."
"You're winning again." Sera noted, peering in at the bodies, “Hello, Unchosen, I trust you're all well?"
"I took a shot to the head." Ryllis said, helping a sobbing Pendra into a shaking Chrissie's arms, "And Maud was hit in the body, her flight systems are down."
"That's fine, they shoot flyers anyway." I said, "Ok, Sera, Ravel, let's move out."
"J-just like that?!" Mod said, "We- I can't- where's Dahl and Mourner? I had a missed call from them when I got done charging, but there was no message left…”
"Hopefully they’re at a hospital." I said, "They got fucked up, GGDS didn't tell you? I called it in."
“We don't have service." Ryllis said, "Have you seen Kiri? She was out getting donuts when they hit us."
"No, I didn't." I said, "I gotta get to my base though, now."
"R-Ravel?" Tipsy asked, their body looking small and fragile among the gore and destruction, "Are you going to kill people too?"
"No!" Ravel said, her voice wavering, "Candy didn't mean to, she- this was just- she was high on her power, it's ok. We won't kill anyone."
"I'll re-gain my lead then!" Sera smiled. "Come, let's head out now before anything happens to our friends!"
I glanced back to the Unchosen and Chrissie. "If you don't hear from us in an hour, get as far north as you can, find a GGDS office and bunker down." I told them,, "Protect the civilians at all costs."
"I have a few weapons I've been working on." Ryllis said "They're not approved by the GGDS yet, but they'll be enough to knock out someone. I'll get everyone to safety, I swear it."
"Do you know where they took Dahl?" Mod asked me "She's mentally fragile right now, she could ruin her psyche forever if she's not around people who care for her."
Ravel waved at the mess of bodies. "I think we're all ending up with messed up psyches after this."
"Whatever hospital is closest to 245, Mourner too." I called over my shoulder as I walked back onto the street. The sun was up now, the sky changing from orange to blue. "I'll see you soon. Ravel?"
"Ready." she said, her legs clamping on my arm.
Sera and I took off, flying down the road at top speeds, racing towards my home. I felt the numbness fading again, an icy feeling of hate in my chest as I thought about the people who'd died for me. I felt the blood sticky on my body, a mix of mine and theirs and I felt a sense of panic shoot through me, what if this wasn't a mind control situation? What if I was breaking GGDS guidelines every time I broke a neck? My stomach curdled and I tried to shove the fear down. I was going to be ok, I had to be. If I wasn't ok, I'd freeze up, people would die, my friends would die, I would die. I had to be ok. Lorgiaia's Angel's base loomed on the horizon and I let out a breath, I was almost there. I could make sure everyone was ok, and I'd see my friends. Once I had them by my side, I'd feel much better.
I was a block away from the building when it exploded.
~~~