Sera found me on the floor, crouched over my tin of mints. I'd taken the rest of them out and thrown them on the mats so Alele was sitting by herself in the center. I'd gotten a damp towel and dabbed off the blood, careful not to get her too wet. I'd... dust her with powdered sugar or something to get the sticky off later. If she was sticky, she'd get stuck to things, and she might break when I tried to pull her off. For now... she sat in the leftover dust of the other mints, one of my fingers resting gently on top of her.
Sera stopped about five feet away from me, quietly watching me on my knees whispering to the candy, telling her she'd be ok, feeling her spark sporadically flicker and shake inside her sugar shell. Another tear ran down my already sore face and I took a shaky breath. I'd change her back, I'd find a way, somehow. Homicide was one thing, he was a bad guy, but Alele? I could go straight to Lorgiaia and ask for her help, Alele was one of her Chosen, after all.
"Candy?" a small voice asked, and I looked up to see Ravel poke her head up over Seraphim's wings, "Are you ok?"
"There's holes everywhere, and that man's head is missing." Sera mused, glancing at the body.
"Wh-gh-" I choked, "I f-f-fought A-A-Alele, sh-she's here..." I looked down at the little mint, my eyes dripping tears again
"Where here?" Ravel said, dropping to the floor, "Like, she's h- oh! Oh, oh no..."
"...I see." Sera said quietly, and knelt beside me, her hand resting on my back, not touching my skin, "What will you do with her now?"
"..." I swallowed the lump in my throat and stroked Alele gently, her spark freezing, as if she was listening.
"...I'll keep her safe." I said "I'll turn her back, somehow."
"Do you think you can?" Ravel blurted out "I mean, that guy in your fridge never got turned back..."
"Ravel, hush." Sera snapped at her.
"No, I- I'll ask our goddess for help." I nodded "It's her power too, I'll just... get her to reverse it."
Sera nodded. "That's a good idea. Have you found any leads on who did this?"
I waved at the walkie-talkie, still watching the Alele-Mint, "There's a... thing, someone taunted me through it. I- I haven't been over to get it yet."
"Ravel, go bring that here." Sera said firmly, "Candy, you look very damaged, I'm almost out of prepared root wine, but I can heal you one more time if you need?"
"No, I-" I looked at the pouch of gummy worms and remembered being lost in them just a couple hours ago "...One more time?"
"I have an emergency stash fermenting at the house, but as far as rootwine I have with me, ready to drink, this is it." she said, holding up her deflated leather bag somberly.
I looked down at myself, the bruises, the smashed hand, the hole in my arm and I slumped "...one more time, yeah. We might be going to fight the leader after this."
Sera's hand traced up my back to my neck and I felt myself snap back together, and I breathed deep, feeling the wave of fizz take away the pain. I picked up the tin and lightly kissed the mint inside, my lips barely touching Alele, and I snapped the lid closed, dropping it into my pouch and patting it. She'd be safe there, I'd protect her. Ravel handed me up the walkie-talkie, and I took it from her, standing.
"You sure you're ok, boss?" Ravel asked, "The GGDS can help us you know, they're right outside."
"The GGDS were trying to mark Sera as a killable-on-sight villain when I came in, I don't think they're going to help with this." I said
"Hm. I hope they change their mind..." Sera wrinkled her forehead as she tucked an empty pouch into her robe, "I'd hate to have to kill them too, they gave me a house."
I held up a hand for silence and pressed the button on the side of the walkie-talkie. "Hello, this is... Comfit, who's this?"
"Going by your alternate hero name now, are you?" a feminine voice came through "That makes my threat a little less meaningful, but I'm sure things will still go how I want."
"Threat?" I asked "Who are you? What threat?"
"I want you to meet me at the building at the corner of 17th and Westchester, you know the place."
"Or else?"
"Or else I ruin you and the rest of Lorgiaia's Angel's lives." the person laughed
"She's not even hiding that it's a trap..." Ravel muttered
"How would you 'ruin our lives'?" I asked, the plastic of the walkie-talkie creaking under my grip
"Shall I count the ways?" the voice sang "Drizti, she's easy, I'll just leak all her fetish porn onto the main news sites and outlets. I even have screenshots of her interactions with fans in DMs!"
"How do you have that?!" I asked "No- look, she didn't do anything wrong! You can't hurt her like that, she's innocent!"
"That's debatable." the woman said "Next is Galorna. Did you know she used to be a bad guy? Even used to date a villainess by the name of Saara. A villainess who's currently under my employ now, and very interested in reuniting with her lover, willing to tell all in order to drive Galorna back into her arms."
"Galorna doesn't want anything to do with her!" I said "She's moved on, she has a new girlfriend!"
"Oh, you mean Lucy?" the woman laughed again "The former streamer with a penchant for slurs and cruel insults?"
"Ok, no, she only uses slurs about trans people that apply to her. That's fine, right Ravel?" I asked
Ravel looked at me and shrugged, shaking her head "I don't... Uh..."
"And then there's you." the walkie talkie squawked "You, who pretends to be be two heroes, who turns people into food, who's killed over and over again since this morning, who's hiding terrorists and wanted criminals. The worst of the lot."
"I was following guidelines!" I yelled "I'm coming out about all that, fuck you!"
"I'll come out for you." she said "I don't mind. All this information spread all over every screen in the city, all over CirNet, everyone will see and share, and your team's popularity will plummet. You'll lose everything."
I stomped and yelled, shaking my head "No! Fuck you, fuck all this! Why do you fucking care!?"
"Well, if you show up to the address within the next 20 minutes alone, without even that little doll of yours, you'll find out."
"I have twenty minutes?!" I asked "I- no, that's not fair! I need to get ready!"
"It's come as you are." she laughed "Oh, and how's Alele doing? She's the only one of the group I couldn't find any dirt on, so... I had to do something about her first. I hope she didn't cause too much trouble?"
I screamed and threw the walkie-talkie onto the floor, shattering it into pieces. I wasn't going to keep talking to a random murderer and mind controller anymore, I fucking knew where my friends were, I just had to get to them.
~~~
I landed on the ground on the corner the lady had said, and looked around for any clue as to which building she was in. Sera and Ravel had stayed home at my request, but they were heading over in another twenty minutes in case things went bad. 'In case', it was a trap, things were going to go bad, I just hoped I could last twenty minutes. I turned and saw a familiar restaurant, Petit Fleur, behind me, mostly shut down, but the front door wide open. I should have known, the place where we made our first mistake as a team, where it all started going downhill. Of course she'd know about this too.
I walked into the restaurant and gasped, there were mind controlled people lining the walls, all standing at attention with their guns, making a path to the back of the room. I couldn't fight them, there was no way, I'd be so full of holes the instant I threw a punch I'd be dead before I hit the floor. I held my breath, but none of them moved an inch, just stood there like statues. I slowly worked my way to the back of the room, to the stairs leading to the upper floor and walked up, looking behind me every couple steps.
None of them were following me, so I edged my way up around the corner and found myself in a large event hall the size of the whole restaurant, at least two stories tall, with a huge chair on one end at the top of some stairs making the whole place look like a throne room. There were casino styled tables with plush booths around them along the sides, long, black drapes over all the walls, lighting that made the atmosphere seem dark and brooding without making it hard to see, and rows of drinks and bottles lining the parts of the wall that weren't covered by the drapes. In the seat at the center of the room, sat a woman in all black, wearing a plain face mask. She was sitting primly, and holding a gun like the ones her minions had been using, her feet propped up on a metal box like a footrest.
"Candy!" she said "So nice to see you, and alone, too! Tell me, are you ready to work with me yet?"
"I- work with you?!" I asked, stomping up to the foot of the stairs leading up to her "You've killed so many people, I can't work with you!"
"Mm, you've killed far, far more, just since this morning!" she said "All those minions you've killed, doesn't it make you feel even a little guilty?"
"They were mind controlled, it's within GGDS guidelines to kill mind controlled minions who are using lethal force!" I barked "I'm within my rights!"
"You would be!" she said, swinging her feet off the box and tapping it with her fingernail "Except they aren't mind controlled, they're being puppeted. Their minds are their own. I got this from The MasterMinder's abandoned lab, it's a real nasty invention. The GGDS is... less forgiving in these cases, psychological trauma, you understand."
I stumbled backwards, fuck, fuck fuck fuck. That meant they were all aware and alive while I killed them... That meant Alele was aware when I- I felt sick, and I covered my mouth with my hand.
"Mhhm, yeah, things are looking pretty bad now, huh?" she laughed "Gods, I've waited for this..."
"Why are you doing this?!" I sobbed, my fingers gripping at the bottom of my leotard
"Because I want to ruin Lorgiaia's Angels, Candy." the woman said, as if it was obvious, "I wanted to make sure your lives, your careers, and your futures were all destroyed."
"No, that's what you're doing." I snapped, going up the first step "Why the fuck do you want to do it?!"
The woman laughed again, and pulled off her mask slowly, revealing a woman in her mid 30s, brown hair, sharp features... I knew her from somewhere, I just couldn't place it. I stared at her hard, wracking my brain as she reached into a pocket and pulled out a pair of glasses, sliding them onto her face, the red framed cat eye design drawing her face out more and making her look even more sharp. I gasped in recognition.
"Willa!?" I said, "What the fuck, I haven't seen you in months, why- what- I don't..."
"I escaped from my holding cell when your doll broke out the other prisoners." she said, aiming her gun at my head "Thanks to you and your team, I was looking at three murder charges and one charge of 'violation of god/Chosen chain of command'. I lost my job, wasted months of work, my life was ruined, I was looking at twenty years in prison, and to top it off, I'd be fully unhirable once I did get out."
"I- we-" I stammered "That was months ago, you're still upset about that?!"
Willa's face twisted up into an angry scowl "Fuck you! It's my whole life, ruined in a couple days, all because some immature girls wanted to go out drinking! You didn't even think to invite me, which makes it all the worse!"
"You got me to kill people because we didn't invite you out to drinks?" I asked "I'm sorry, we- there was no mention of rules or anything, we were doing team-building, I just-"
"It's not about the fucking drinks!" she yelled, kicking the box "It's about you being a selfish, irresponsible brat!"
I stared at the gun pointing at my head, she was insane, I couldn't be sure she wouldn't blow my head off right here and now. If I rushed her I might be able to get the gun away before she shot anywhere vital, but I was a full ten feet away, could I get there fast enough? She pulled a remote out of her pocket and pressed a button on it. A door hissed open behind the throne and Saara walked out, dressed in her full costume again, no sign of the depressed mess she'd been last time I saw her.
"Candy, I want you to listen closely." Willa said "Saara is here to help me finish my plan, to ruin the Angels and get Galorna back by her side. Follow her lead, and the Angels that are still alive will walk away from this, just have their carers ruined."
"Please, I don't want to hurt you guys, just play along and it'll all work out." Saara said to me, her face forlorn and her staff already smoking with the gray magic she used.
"Play along with what?" I asked "I'm about to-"
"Candy!" I heard from behind me "Gods, Candy, why?!"
Willa smiled "Riiight on time."
I spun and saw my friends, the three remaining members of Lorgiaia's Angels, standing on the stairs behind me. I froze and my eyes widened at their anger, at Drizti's tears. What had they been told? What did they think was going on?
"I'm- I'm not behind this, it's Willa!" I protested "I didn't do this!"
"Candy, don't be modest, you set this whole thing up!" Willa said chipperly "You even got your doll to break me out of jail so I could help!"
Galorna started walking towards me, her fists balled up "I can't fucking believe you." she growled, "Working with my ex? With Willa? Trying to leak all our scandals? Killing people, all to set up some fake crisis you could fix to get you more followers?!"
"I- no, it's not like that, I didn't, I was fighting the bad guys!" I said "I was being a hero!"
"Fighting the bad guys you mind controlled." Lucy spat "Fuck, I'd have gone along with it too, if Saara hadn't told us your plan"
"Ah, so that's how you all found out." Willa said, faking annoyance "Saara! You had one job!"
"I'm sorry!" Saara sobbed, sounding convincing "I just wanted Lorna back, and once I heard Candy had killed Alele, I knew there was no hope it'd go the way she wanted, I had to do the right thing!"
"Candy, you what?!" Driz shrieked, flapping her hands "No no no no, please, you didn't!"
"I- no, she-" I took a step back and tripped over the stairs, landing on my butt "She attacked me, but she's not dead! I just folded her! She's a mint now, but she's ok!"
"That's sick!" Lucy yelled, stamping her foot, "Fuck it, I've heard enough!"
She flickered out of sight and I had just enough time to clench my jaw before her fist smashed into my face. I saw stars and tasted frosting. I beat into her side with my wing as I rolled away, and I scrambled for Saara. That bitch was the one to lie to my team, I'd fucking use her as a power boost then survive long enough to explain myself. I reached out my hand for the exposed skin on her chest as I stood up and she screamed.
"Lorna! Please, help me!" she wailed
I felt an impact in my stomach, directly into the guts and I tumbled over onto the stairs again, belching up blood. I shook with pain and stress, tears running down my face. I rolled onto my side and coughed, trying to mumble around the blood coming up from the internal bleeding.
"Pleash, I washn't hurtin' anyon', I'm not with them..." I coughed again and the blood gushed out. My stomach must be torn open, I wasn't going to live long...
"Ugh, Saara, you're useless!" Willa yelled "Candy and I will have to fight them off ourselves, traitor!"
She aimed her gun and fired it, Galorna's upper chest spewing blood. I screamed and flailed at Willa, but curled up in on myself as I felt something tear inside with the movement. I was fading fast, I needed a boost and Saara was already running away to hide somewhere. Willa was too far up the stairs, and I couldn't touch the girls, of course.
"Please, everyone stop!" Drizti said from the back "We can talk this out!"
I gurgled my agreement, and Lucy growled and kicked me in the gut, turning my half formed word into a scream of pain. I pushed away from the stairs as Lucy flickered out, rolling down them to the flat ground, curled in a ball, still crying. I heard the sound of a punch and Willa shrieked, at least she was getting hurt too. Lucy cried out, and I whimpered, she must have gotten shot, fuck this was all going wrong...
My fingers found the pouch on my hip, I was laying on it, and I managed to pull it into the next of my limbs, slipping my hand inside, my fingers caressing the tin and moving past it to the collection of worms. I could win this, but at what cost? I'd be fuzzy and confused, but it was better than dying and letting my friends get shot. I shoved the rest of the worms into my mouth, wishing I'd thought to refill the pouch when I tried to kill the mystery lady.
"We can talk about this after we've gotten control of the situation, Verdant." Galorna said, her voice sounding strained
I felt her grab my hair and haul me up, and I chewed quickly, the worms doing what they did, pumping their healing power through me, putting sparks in my mind, making me feel light and powerful and invincible. I sucked in a clean, powerful breath, and let the universe slow down.
Behind me, Lucy was still wrestling with Willa, her arm bleeding badly as Willa now sported a black eye. Saara was crouched behind a table, holding her staff and shaking. Galorna was bleeding from a hole in her right upper chest, her yellow dress stained all the way down, and Drizti was sobbing, her head in her hands as green sparks popped up all around her. Lucy glanced at me and her eyes widened, and she shouted a warning far too late.
"Look out, she just ate somethi-!"
I kicked out with my right foot, catching Galorna in the ribs, hearing one snap as she gasped for air and let go of my hair. I dropped to the ground and turned in time to see Lucy elbow Willa in the face and flicker, her form vanishing for an eternity. I waited, backing up towards Drizti in slow motion, and as soon as Lucy popped back in, I rocked back with the punch and slammed her into the ground, her sternum cracking and her head smacking against the low pile carpet. I turned around to lunge for Drizti, and my vision flickered with colors as a rod connected me to Galorna and suddenly I had a hole in my chest and a new broken rib. I held in a growl as I swung at Driz, the time dilation was almost done, and I'd be all fuzzy again for who knows how long.
My fist pinged off one of her bars and she yelled and swung her hand, another bar connecting me to Lucy, my arm blooming with pain for the third time that day, my chest caving in slightly, and my head pounding with pain. Fuck, I- I- they were back up to full power, and I was so, so injured. I had to do something, I was going to die over a stupid misunderstanding, a fucking trick, I could scream, I could just bite someone, I wanted to explode. I needed to end this now, and there was only one way to do that.
Lucy's prone form blurred as she slipped into the other dimension and I backhanded Galorna as I waited for Lucy to re-appear. I felt the air whoosh behind me and I took the punch, my jaw cracking, a tooth coming loose, and I reached up and grabbed Lucy's bare arm. I heard Drizti scream through the haze, and in a moment, I was holding a cupcake in my hand. swirled vanilla frosting, yellow cake, baby blue and pink sprinkles on top. I whimpered as the flavor spiked into my brain, it was so, so good, so creamy and smooth, it tasted like heaven, I wanted to eat it so badly, but I couldn't, even as time resumed and the fog took over, I knew I couldn't eat my friend. I placed her on one of the tables and turned to the other two.
Galorna was on her knees, her eyes locked on the Lucy-cupcake, her mouth moving but no sounds coming out. She was crying too now, and Drizti was screaming loudly enough that I was worried for her throat. It was ok though, I was going to ask Lorgiaia to help me, Lucy would be back to normal again soon, it'd be ok, they just didn't know that yet. I needed to finish things up quickly though, I wanted to get Lucy somewhere safe so nothing happened to her. Maybe the fridge? She'd like it in there, I'd put music on for her and everything. It'd just be for a little while, it'd be ok.
I moved towards Galorna like the air was made of water, my wings pushing me forward and straight for her. A bar of green energy blocked me from getting to her, and I gurgled as another one slammed into my throat, clotheslining me. I twisted and kicked forward, faster than Drizti could make her bars, and I smiled proudly. She was using her powers just like we talked about! That's how I could know she was still my friend after all. Galorna's broken face went scary, and she snapped a fist out in my direction as she stood. My thigh bloomed with pain and I heard a snap, but my body was numb and my mind was close. I reached for Galorna's face and she ducked, my hand grasping her broken horn. I didn't feel any sparks, so that meant her horns were like hair or my wings, they didn't count for my power, good to know. Or, well, it would be once she was turned back.
Her fists drummed into my stomach, her power not even hurting as I laughed it off. Organ damage was fine, I was fine, I'd heal it soon enough. My hand slid down the horn as green bars wrenched in front of me, trying to pull me off Galorna. I pulled as well, and Galorna's spark filled my mind with flavor. Green tea, ginger, sugar, something spicy, something nutty, I hummed in delight as I floated up away from the bars, a spiced sugar cookie in my hand. I drifted to the table and set the cookie down.
Drizti was screaming, Saara was screaming, they really should get with the program, I had a plan damnit. I was going to talk to Lorgiaia, hadn't I told them that? I'd told someone, it should have gotten back to them by now. I ignored Saara's wails and slipped up to Drizti, kneeling in front of her. I smiled at her, and then stopped. I could feel the blood seeping through my teeth, that was probably scary, I didn't want to scare her.
"Candy, why?" she whispered, "You were my best friend, we- we were going get popular eventually, why did you do this?"
I shook my head and giggled "'S not me. 'S a trick, I was tryin' t' stop it." I pushed out
She sniffled "You turned everyone else into treats, I- that's not something a good guy does."
"Nooo..." I cooed "They're fine, I know how t' turn them back, it's jus' s' I can fight the real bad guy, Willa."
"You promise?" Drizti asked "You aren't a bad guy? You weren't trying to sabotage us to be the only one left on the team?"
"Promise." I smiled at her. It was all going to work out, I knew she'd believe me, she was my best friend, she had to!
I pulled her into a hug and squeezed her tight. I was so close to having all my friends back again, to having everything back in order. The worms were starting to fade, and the injuries were throbbing again, the on-again-off-again numbness I'd been experiencing all day was settling into 'dull throb'. I pulled way from Drizti and looked down at her face, scared, hopeful, desperate to believe me, and I felt a pang of hurt, deep down. I'd get her face back to smiling and joyful soon, I just had one more, then I could focus on Willa. I kissed Drizti on the forehead, and she stiffened under me. A moment later, I stood up, holding the large striped lollipop in my hands. That was all four, I could put them somewhere safe while I sorted things out.
I drifted over to the table and placed the Drizti-pop next to the others, and glanced at Saara, on her knees next to the table, her orifices gushing gray fluid as she cast some kind of a spell. Not my problem for now, though. She'd been the one to scry all our secrets, but she was only doing it because she loved someone, I got that. I pulled the tin with the Alele mint out of the pouch and put it on the table too with the others.
Alele was smaller than the rest, I'd be able to keep her in a necklace or something for the time being. Driz and Galorna... maybe some kind of shoulder pads with hard plastic to protect them? And Lucy... There was no good place to keep a cupcake on my person, but until I could get in contact with Lorgiaia, I wanted everyone to stay together, so... maybe a hat? No, a crown! With a dome over the top. That made the most sense. Hopefully I'd be able to reach Lorgiaia within the week, she was pretty busy, it'd be terrible if my team had to stay like this for more than a day or two.
I patted Saara on the back and she flinched, the gray fluid dripping off her face. "Hey, don't mess with my friends, ok?" I asked "I'm going to deal with your boss."
"N-not my boss!" she said "J-just, uh, she tricked me too! I just-"
"Yeah, I get it." I said "It's ok. Make sure my friends stay safe."
"I- I'm trying to t-turn Lorna back..." she admitted "I need her..."
"That's fine." I said "I hope you can."
There was no chance something as pathetic as magic could undo a power from a goddess, but it'd keep her out of the way, she'd watch the sweets at least. I floated up the stairs and looked down at Willa. Her nose was crushed from Lucy elbowing it, and she wasn't moving at all. I hauled her up by her arms, wincing at the pain it caused. I tossed her into the throne and eyed the metal box. It had to be the mind control machine, I needed to break it and set the people free, but my body was only moving at all because I was flying right now. I needed a boost before I was strong enough to smash it.
I looked at Willa, and floated closer. I pinched her arm, and she twitched, her eyes flickering open. She saw me and smiled cruelly, her teeth shattered. She tried to speak, but the words were nasal and choked. It didn't matter. She was done now anyway, whatever she had to say was meaningless, worthless garbage. Not that she'd ever had anything useful to say anyway. I reached out my hand and she cringed back as my fingertips hit her cheek. I pulled the spark, and in a moment, I was holding a small ice cream cone. Vanilla and chocolate swirl. I frowned, that was an unfortunate form for her to take, it'd make a mess... It was what it was, though.
I licked the ice cream, my tongue leaving a rivulet of blood behind, and I felt the sharp, aware, cold strength that I'd felt all that time ago taking a bite of Homicide. I hummed in satisfaction and bit the top off the ice cream, my body repairing in real time as I ate. Ice cold blood dripped from my fingers and face as I bit more and more of the ice cream off, the spark inside writhing and jerking all around as I got closer to the center. Once I got to the cone, my bites started to crunch, and the blood began to splatter as I ate, each snap of the waffle cone spraying new blood out into the room, onto my face, and onto my clothes. I was fully healed at this point, and I felt strong enough to rip Spacegirl's head off, with no fuzzy thoughts or side effects. This was what I needed. All this time, this was what I was supposed to be feeling like. The worms were useless, Sera was limited, this was what my body was intended to have. I pushed the last bite into my mouth and chewed, the spark flickering and dispersing out into my body, vanishing as I swallowed. That was the best ice cream cone I'd ever had, and I desperately wanted more...
Later, I could get more later. For now, I needed to do my job as a hero. I took a deep breath and drove a fist into the metal box, the cover crumpling under my hand, and I felt the fine tuned electronics inside shatter and collapse. That should do it. I heard screaming and panic coming from the floor below me and the sounds of running feet and breaking glass. Good, if they could panic, they were free. That's all I cared about. I kicked the remains of the box down the stairs and walked down after it, going over to the table Saara was at.
"Any luck?" I asked
"N-no..." she sobbed, her face in her hands "I j-just wanted Lorna back, you didn't have t-to turn her into..."
"Hey, it's fine." I told her calmly, "My goddess will help me turn them back, we're her Chosen after all."
"Y-you're sure?..." she asked
"I am, yes." I nodded "I think Galorna's moved on from you, but I'm sure she'd be willing to sit down and listen to your side of things after all this, right?"
"O-oh, uh, yeah." Saara said nervously, eyeing the Galorna-cookie and speaking pointedly "After... uh, I was tricked and lied to by Willa, and how I thought you were on her side, yeah. We have a lot to discuss."
"Mm." I said "You gonna stay and help out with things? From the sound of it, there's some kind of riot going on downstairs."
"...No, I'm going to head out." Saara said, giving the Galorna-cookie one last longing look "Please tell me when she's back to normal?"
I hummed in response and ran my finger along the sweets in front of me, feeling their sparks. I'd be the hero today, I'd be so, so popular for this... Not that that was as important as having saved the day, but still, it was going to be so nice. I'd absolutely make Angel for this, right? I heard a sound and a familiar voice from the door and turned to see Sera pointing her sword at Saara. I giggled, Sera and Saara, kinda funny.
"Who are you?" Sera barked "Where's Candy?"
"I'm here!" I called out "I'm fine, that's Saara, she's just leaving."
Saara mumbled out an apology and slipped past Sera, running down the stairs and away. Seraphim strode over to me and looked at me carefully, her eyes tracing the blood on my outfit, my face, and my wings.
"I expected you to be almost dead by now." she said "You look pretty much in one piece though, what happened?"
I sighed and waved around the room at the bloodstains everywhere "I fought. The bad guy was one of our old bosses, Willa. She blamed us for ruining her life, and this was her revenge. She turned the other Angels against me, but I beat them and ate Willa, so it's all done now."
"You ate her?!" Ravel asked, sticking her head out of Sera's robes "Why?!"
"I was dying." I said "No more worms, and I wasn't about to eat one of my friends, so."
Ravel looked at the table and gasped "Oh, jesus christ... Those are the rest of your team?"
"Yeah." I said, eyeing them "They're ok. I'll get Lorgiaia to turn them back."
"Assuming she can, Candy, what if she-"
Sera grabbed Ravel's mouth mid sentence and pulled her all the way out of her robe. "Doll, why don't you explore the room? Look for traps or something."
"Don't call me doll..." Ravel muttered as Seraphim dropped her on the floor "I'm just saying, this is serious..."
Sera glared at her, and I pursed my lips. It was serious, but... it was going to work, it had to. If it didn't, then- Well, there was no reason to think it wouldn't work, so why bother thinking about it?
"Are you ok to head back home now?" Sera asked me, "I saw the mind controlled people on my way over, but they were taking off their costumes and talking, so I assumed they were free."
"Yeah, I freed them." I told her, carefully picking up the sweets off the table "I'm good to head out, I guess. We need to debrief with the GGDS, explain that we were acting on false information about the mind control, and we'll need to set up a press conference for the public, this was a major terrorist attack after all."
"And my kill-on-sight order?" she asked me as we headed for the way out
"I'm sure they'll let it go when we tell them..." I thought for a minute, slipping the tin of Alele into my pouch and adjusting the others so I wouldn't drop them "...that the mystery lady was funding the whole thing, and that the office workers were working for her."
"She's still in the tub, how will we get her to go along with that story?" Sera asked, walking down the steps with me
Ravel caught up with us and hopped up on my shoulder "We can just tell her we'll let her go if she agrees to play along, right?" she asked
"Mm, no." I said "I think she disappeared from the tub before we got back, and we never saw her again."
"Oh?" Sera asked, tilting her head
"Yeah, that's what happened." I said firmly "And no one will think to look in your house, because why would she be there?"
"Candy, no..." Ravel said "That's horrible! you can't keep her! She's a person!"
"I'll do what I want." I said "She's a known threat and I just saved the city from a mind controlled army, I'm untouchable."
"Untouchable..." Sera said dreamily "That sounds so powerful, you should make that your new name that now that you're merging all your identities!"
I frowned at her "No, that's stupid, I'm just Comfit now, not Candy, not Angel Rouge, just Comfit. Maybe I'll like, tack on a title, Queen or Empress or something, to show how powerful I am, but I'm still Comfit."
"I don't think you should be so worried with showing off your power, power corrupts." Ravel said nervously
"Maybe, but I have it, I might as well use it." I said
"I agree." Sera said as we walked down the streets towards my base "Power is one of the most important things in the world, you should always seek it, and if you have it, you should make sure to use it well."
"I just want you to be careful, Candy." Ravel said "I'd hate to see you become a bad person."
"It's ok." I said, turning and giving her a small kiss on her bloody beret "I'm incorruptible, I'm the best person I know, I always do the right thing, no matter what. I'll be alright."
She made a noise and drew herself in closer to my shoulder. I rolled my eyes, let her worry, I'd just proven I could handle power. This whole adventure we'd just had, I'd done nothing but the right thing, and nothing bad had happened. She was overreacting, but that was alright, she was a sidekick, it was part of her job to doubt me, just so I could prove to her that I was amazing over and over. I saw the base looming in the distance, the glass shattered and parts of it still smoking, and I smiled. Time to show her- and everyone else- that I was the best hero in the city!
~~~