[Amy's POV a few minutes earlier]
Watching Vicky talk to her 'Friends', I mentally rolled my eyes at the label, was a test in patience that I had to deal with every week. The Popular Girls were a click that was so stereotypical that I sometimes wondered if some idiot was off in the corner with a high grade movie camera. It'd just make sense really, because by all that was holy, I would swear that this was the 4th rebound into relationship talk.
(Ugh, I'd take the hospital over this any day.) Mentally grumbling at that thought, I shoved a fry into my mouth.
Work had been starting to lighten up, the dismantling of The Merchant's had practically disemboweled the drug trade and brought it out back to put it down. And with the PRT stepping up, druggies and anyone else affected by Merchant shit were at a record low. That meant I could work on more patients instead of the hundreds that were either coming down from their first bad crash, to some longtime users that underestimated how much their body could take... Or mixed shit with more shit and nearly fried their brains or overworked their hearts.
It was crazy to recognize that The Merchant's had been such an issue against the hospitals. But with them gone, and irrefutable numbers backing up the evidence, I could see that they accounted for atleast 28% of everyone that stepped into a hospital.
Overdoses, Withdrawals, first time addictions, prostitution, random beatings/robberies, road accidents. The Merchants were a chaotic cancer on the city, and with them gone, the strain on hospitals, and even me, was lessened. It got to the point that the doctors ordered me to take an hour or so breaks every 3 hours. It was crazy in my opinion, but they agreed to bring me in if there were emergency patients.
(And to think, all it took was for someone to do something.) I did my best not to scowl at that. Khepri and Anubis were a bit of a sour point in the family.
"...- s." On the one hand, they were responsible for things getting better in the Bay, saving lives during the raid against The Simurgh, and even driving the feathered bitch back.
On the other, Anubis was casually using live rounds against Villains and mooks, sure they all seemed to go right through someone and didn't seem to fragment inside the victim which made it easy to treat them, was responsible for atleast 50 casualties, Hero and Villain alike, and had lashed out at Vicky multiple times.
I knew it was a bad reaction to her SHAKER aura, there was no way it was a Master Power, we all did, but it still rubbed us the wrong way.
It didn't help that Vicky accidentally outed the guy two days ago. "...- es."
I might've hated... Well... Had an intense dislike of him, because of the fact he'd given Vicky electrical burns after lashing out, but I couldn't hold it against him. There were multiple occasions that showed he, and his partner, had adverse reactions to her Shaker aura. It was like an intense allergic reaction really, and I could understand that...
... Just like I understood that those two were able to do something for the Bay that New Wave, and the PRT, couldn't. (Are we doing enough..? Am I doing enough?) I scowled at that thought. I knew New Wave hadn't been as involved as they had been in the past, knew Vicky and I were basically carrying the team on our backs, but couldn't we do more? (I don't need those breaks. I can keep going. Even if I need to get used to 4 hours of sleep again, I can do it.)
"... mes." It wouldn't even be that hard. I'd need to make sure my thermos was full, and I had enough money to refill it with the shitty hospital coffee, but I could do i...- "AMES!"
I snapped out of my thoughts. "Huh?"
Looking around, I noticed Vicky and her 'Friends' were giving me look, the former one out of concern, while the others were just weirded out. "I've been calling you for like the past minute or something. You sure you okay Ames?"
That just made me feel bad, so I nodded. "Yeah, just thinking about som...-" I blinked, then started looking around. "Do you... Hear that?"
My sister frowned, then started looking around. ~Put on your war paint.~ Our heads snapped towards the source. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the boys did the same. The sound of drums and violins got louder, attracting the attention of the unpowered population. ~You are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down. Strike a match and I'll burn you to the ground. We are the Jack-O-Lanterns in July, setting fire to the sky, here here comes there's a rising tide!~
Something was wrong here, the staff should've, and would've, stopped someone from blasting music. They also would've stopped someone from coming late to lunch, so given the fact neither of those were currently happening, I tensed. I could tell Vicky was tensed now too, her fists clenched as she focused on the incoming danger(?)
If we really were in danger, the principle would've alerted us through the PA system, there would've been some kind of notice from the security. But there were no messages, so either someone disabled the PA system and took out the principle and security, or whoever was blasting music was a non threat... (As if we're that lucky.) Things might've been getting better, but this was still Brockton Bay.
Everyone else seemed to understand this was something bad, and panic slowly started to sink in, because herd mentality spread faster then any illness, but they kept themselves from acting like idiots and trampling over each other.
So, we waited, Vicky getting ready to fly at a threat like the fist of God, the Ward boys tensed and ready to act, and me... Just there. ~...- ung blood, doesn't it feel, like our time is running out?~ That didn't inspire confidence. ~I'm gonna change you, like a remix. Then I'll raise you, like a phoenix!~
After what felt like an eternity, the source of the music walked into the lunchroom, and I felt my heart drop. (Oh... Oh god no.) I saw Vicky freeze, her eyes widening and breath hitching as she took in the newcomer by the cafeteria doors. Forest green hair up in a ponytail with a bang covering an emerald eye, emerald eyes that were roaming the room.
It might've only been two days since it happened, but due to how big of an impact the Cape had on the world, you don't just ward off The Simurgh and stay irrelevant, and with the Goblin Purge that happened yesterday, the face of Anubis/Sun Wukong was one that everyone in the Cape community knew. Even the normal unpowered people knew, because now that his face was out there, the Unwritten Rules didn't exactly apply to him anymore. Seeing him outside, it would just be an exercise in politeness to not just call him out by his Cape names.
His eyes stopped on my sister, and I felt my heart threaten to physically shit itself out.
The Changer grinned, the music stopped, and he started making his way over to us. My mind raced with possibilities, and none of them were good. Vicky had outed him by punching Hookwolf at him, and there'd been another reaction with her aura, so there was a good chance for this to go...- He was in front of our table, and stuck his hand out at Vicky. "Make with the lunch money and no one gets hurt."
...
...
...
What the fuck?
[Phoenix's POV]
I had to use an ungodly amount of self control to not cackle at the looks on Glory Girl and Panacea's faces. They were just fucking staring at me with so much confusion that even my Other Half was Amused.
Though as the flying brick continued to stare, I felt my brow twitch. So, raising my hand, I snapped in front of her face. "Target for guilt tripping and extortion say what?"
She flinched, then started blinking. "Huh?"
"Tch. Goddammit." Of course the one time I try that it doesn't work. Sighing, I repeated myself. "It's a stick up. Fork over your lunch money dumbass."
The blonde seemed to fully break out of her stupor, and looked at me like I was an idiot. "Are you... Seriously trying to rob me right now"
I rolled my eyes. "First off, I'm not 'Trying' anything. It's called extortion, get it right." Her brow twitched, and I noticed the quick flash of humor in her sisters' eyes. "Secondly, 'Trying' would involve me putting on my suit or turning into something else. I'm 'Politely' asking you to give me money." The 'Or else' was silent, but understood, making them both re-tense... Which was funny in my opinion.
|You know, we really need to work on your people skills.|
I mentally raised a brow at that. [How about no? I like no.]
She sent over an eye roll, one I was about to respond too, when Glory Girl spoke. "Okay, I've got like, $40 on me. That enough?"
Normally, I'd say no, but it wasn't really about the money, more of what it meant. "That'll do." And so I watched as the flying brick busted out her wallet and handed me a pair of 20's and seven 1's. Nodding, I stuffed the money in my pocket, then looked over to Panacea. "By the way, I'll be borrowing her for a bit."
The blonde grit her teeth, hands clenching into fists as she stood up. "What?" It was sort of Interesting to see how fast she went from slightly amused to ready to commit violence.
She wasn't exactly a threat, so I didn't pay the implied chance of violence. "Depending on how the talk goes, she should be back by 6th period or something. Dunno really."
We stared at each other for a bit, though the aura didn't come out so I didn't end up shooting her, and it was only broken when Panacea spoke up. "It's just a talk, right?"
Glory Girl's head whipped towards her sister. "AMY?!"
I watched as the 'Healer' sighed, then looked at me. Looking at her straight on, I would give her a 7/10, could be higher if she wasn't as pale as she was, and if her hair was a bit longer, but that was just my opinion. Though, her caustic brownish yellow eyes were nice in their own way.(ArtofLariz interpretation of Panacea) "And you won't do anything to me or Vicky?" It was subtle, but I recognized the small inflection added to her sister's name.
That still made me blink though. "No. I'd rather not have to deal with either of you to be honest, but we don't always get what we want."
The blonde shot me the stink eye at that, but it looked like her sister... Approved(?) of the answer? The nod she gave me was approving enough. "Then I'll go with you."
She was about to get up, but Glory Girl put a hand on her sister's shoulder, and glared at me. "No! If Ames goes then I go!"
"... Are you stupid? I was really starting to wonder if she was. (Yeah, just come along and blast your 'FEAR ME' shit at me, let's see how long you live after getting shot at.) I ignored the scowl from her, and frown from her sister, and went on. "We both know how your Mast...-"
"It's a Shaker effect!"
"And denial is just a river in Egypt." She scowled even harder at my dry and instantaneous response. "I'm not even going to bother. Unhand the White Mage, I'll have her back before the day ends." Now, if that was the school day or day day, I wouldn't know.
We stared at each other again, her teeth audibly gnashing as she ground her jaw. She would've probably said something, but said White Mage still managed to get up, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder. I mentally hummed when they shared a look, and when the 'Healer' squeezed her sister's hand. (Well that wasn't a sisterly squeeze.) Granted, I had no idea what the fuck I just thought, but I knew that it looked similar to how Taylor and I squeeze each other's hands.
After a few seconds of silent staring, and literally every other random in here starting to whisper and shit, they broke off the stare, and the blonde turned to glare at me. "I'm following you. I'll stay out of range, but I'm still going to follow you."
I shrugged. "Whatever." It didn't really matter. As long as she stayed out of range, I couldn't give a shit. Turning, I started making my way out of the lunchroom, idly listening and noticing that they were following along, and started heading out.
When we left the lunchroom, a fucking bomb of sound went off, and I scoffed. "Could've atleast waited till I was out of hearing range."
The next scoff came from the 'Healer.' "They're teenagers, what did you expect?"
Looking over my shoulder, I shrugged at her, while also noticing she was a few inches shorter then I was. "Point." And that was all I said. There was no reason to keep talking, especially when her sister was glaring at me, so I decided to just not. I could've tried riling her up, but that'd make it harder to talk to Panacea if she already had a shit opinion of me.
So we walked on in silence.
It didn't take long to head out of the front doors, no one stopped us, and we went over to the parking lot. Nodding to myself, I popped the dial, ignoring the sudden intakes of breath behind me, and dialed in my good boi. With him up, I looked at Panacea. "When I Shift, you're going to get on. Clear?" She didn't verbally answer, opting to just give me a stiff nod. Taking it for what it was, I turned back to the dial, and pressed it down.
A familiar rush of power went off, my form changed, and suddenly all was clear. "Wildmutt!" My roar reverberated through the air, but I didn't focus on that, opting to 'Look' at the brown haired woman.
"Well, guess I'm doing this." I ignored the mutter, and tapped the ground with a claw. Seeing the gesture, she huffed, and made her way onto my harness/armor. She didn't get it right away, and had to adjust it because Taylor was the only one that actually rode me, but she managed it. 'Huh... This is... Comfortable." I snorted, she was about to be singing a different tune soon.
Looking up at Glory Girl, I heard her huff, and start to levitate off the ground. "Let's just get this done with."
I rolled my non existent eyes at the unwanted blonde, and tensed my limbs. Feeling it, or seeing it, Panacea gripped the reigns, and I let out a bark as I took off. "Holy SHIIIIT!"
[Amy's POV]
This day was turning out to be fucking crazy.
After the whole thing in the cafeteria, and making sure that Vicky didn't fight The Changer in school, it was apparently time for an impromptu lesson in horseback riding... But instead of being an actual horse, the thing was a 3'6 orange furred dog thing that was frog jumping through the air. After I screamed like a bitch the first few times, I could recognize bitch behavior, even if it was mine, I got used to it...
Though I did have to stop Vicky from fighting him for doing that. With agreements that they weren't going to fight, neither of us spoke in big orange dog, but we both recognized a hum of agreement, we kept going, and flying through the air. And after the initial fear wore off, I had to admit, this was fucking amazing. (It's like when Vicky carries me... But less... Secure? Safe?) I furrowed my brows at that. (Am I an adrenaline junkie?) It would make so much sense... (But I'm going to just ignore that because no way in fuck am I going to have an introspective analysis right now.)
That thought, I braced for another jump, then grinned when he leapt, the wind whipping against my face, and 'Wildmutt' barking out in what I was assuming was amusement. I had no idea if I was right, but at the moment, I didn't give a damn.
We eventually landed on the ground, the harness absorbing the force that should've transmitted to me. When he didn't immediately tense or run up for another jump, I blinked, then looked around. It didn't take me long to figure out where we were, the smartass landed in a free spot on the street near Fugly Bob's. People were looking and gathering, but ignoring things like that was second nature to me. "Really? Here?" Granted, I didn't mind, and I WAS taken during lunch, so I could definitely eat, it was just the principal of the matter.
The dog man just fucking snorted at me, and went belly down onto the ground. I rolled my eyes, but got off anyway. As soon as I did, a flash of green light went off, and he was suddenly himself again. I was so tempted to put my hands on him before and after he changed, it was like an insane urge to just SEE what exactly was going on with his genetic structure when he went from Human to his Changer forms, but I kept myself from doing it. The urge was still there, bubbling under the surface, but I kept it in.
We were going to talk about... Something, and I doubted he'd appreciate me poking around his biology in mid air.
Rolling his shoulders, he stepped onto the sidewalk, then raised his head to look up. I followed his eyes to see Vicky, scowling at The Changer. I still didn't like the fact Vicky wasn't being included, but I understood why. Plus, I'd rather not have the guy I'm about to talk too suddenly lash out and turn into a big fucking dinosaur or something else that could kill me on accident. (Or shoot me. Fucker has guns too.)
After some staring, Vicky huffed, and flew towards the roof of a nearby building, perching herself on the ledge. Her eyes stayed on us like a hawk, making The Changer roll his eyes. "Fuckin drama queen." My sister took offense to that and flipped him off. Surprisingly, he flipped one right back. I snorted at the byplay, despite Vicky disliking the guy, he was already appealing to my sense of humor. The noise got his attention, and The Changer hummed at me. "Anyway, let's go."
Didn't have to tell me twice.
After we got a booth at the farthest end and away from everyone else, while also ordering our food, we were left in an awkward silence. It didn't help that we were being stared at by pretty much everyone. (It's like they've never seen Capes coming to casually eat here before or something.) Granted, I was pretty sure that was the exact thing they were excited about, especially since it was me and Anubis, but I wasn't on the clock so I wasn't being paid to care. "So..." He hummed at me. "What are we talking about?"
The whole reason he'd dragged me out of school was to talk, and despite me being fine with not having to deal with school, I didn't want to keep Vicky waiting. Phoenix, and I was going to have to ask if that was his real name or if he was just making himself larger then life, just stared at me for a bit, making me unco...- "Still thinking about that."
My brow twitched. "... What?" I wasn't sure if I heard that right, because what? (What the hell?! He had time to think about this way before he came to get me!)
He shrugged. "Multiple things to talk about, dunno where to start." That made more sense. "Doesn't help that I've exceeded my 'Interact with Humanity' threshold." Saying that, he tapped his arm, then went back to focusing on me.
The weird action aside, I focused on what he just said... I felt that. I felt that so much and I didn't know how to take it. "Then why isn't Khepri the one talking?" When asked, Anubis freely admitted that she was the one that handled 'Everything that isn't related to beating the shit out of something.' And considering I wasn't up against some monstrosity against Humanity, this should've counted.
Phoenix rolled his eyes, looking somewhere to the right. "Apparently I need to work on my people skills and make friends. Not that I care about either of those, my girlfriend and Aunt are all I really need, but I've got to make the attempt just to say I did it." Then he turned back to me, a look in his eyes that I recognized. It was less intense then mine was on a relatively good day, but I recognized it all the same.
I stared at the guy in front of me, really taking him and what he just said, in... That... That sounded so similar to something Vicky would tell me... Then I started to think about the things he'd done or said since he first appeared in the lunchroom, as well as what was known about him... And leaped to the first conclusion I'd thought of. (Is, is he..?) It was a ridiculous thought, but I just had to find out if I was right. "Are you..." He raised a brow at me. "Are you an introvert?"
With the way his eyes shone, and lips twitched up, I knew he was amused. "Mhm." Holy shit he was! "Khepri is too, but she's trying not to be."
I snorted. "I'm not sorry for you." Vicky constantly tried to set me up on dates or just talk to new people so often that I was just done with it. I couldn't actually tell her that, but he wasn't her, so I wa...-
My mind caught up to what I said, and to who I said it too. But before I could worry about it, Phoenix rolled his eyes. "Just for that I'm claiming you as our friend. She's your problem now too smartass."
...
...
...
"Fucking what?" He laughed at me, and I narrowed my eyes at him. "That's not how that works dumbass!"
"I can destroy the world whenever I feel like, so any and all arguments against me are invalid." ... I hated that I couldn't refute that. Like, what the hell do you say to something like that in the first place? "Anyway, we've got a proposal for you."
Shaking away my surprise at how this was all turning out, I narrowed my eyes at him. He was about to speak up, but then the food came, which surprised me because I hadn't noticed the waiter coming.
After we got our food, he went on. "So, how would you like to work with some of my forms, and help fix the Case 53's?"
The urge to look and work with what was in front of me surged forwards, and I practically leapt over the table. "YES!" Then I froze, confused for a moment about why I just outright agreed... (But isn't this what I was looking for? Helping the Case 53's IS something I've thought about, and even though the first few tries didn't work out, Anubis and Khepri might have technology that'd make the process possible. Plus, I'll get to see how some of his forms work, especially some of the weird ones.) This was an opportunity that I couldn't pass on, and I wouldn't pass it up, no matter what.
"Huh... That was easy." His voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and we shared a look. He was a little surprised, but that was all I could get from his face and eyes. "Maybe I'm good at this shit after all."
I rolled my eyes, sitting back down to grab some fries. "Bullshit. You just dangled something in front of me that I couldn't resist."
The smirk that made its way onto his face told me I fucked up. "My girlfriend has ad...-" A Dragonfly zoomed in out of nowhere, and started hovering in front of his nose. We both focused on the bug, and I watched him slowly nod. The bug stayed there for a second or two longer, then it flew away. We were both silent for a bit, then I snickered at the ridiculousness of what I'd just seen. He just rolled his eyes at me, and munched on a fry. "Anyway, we'll need to iron this whole thing out, but we can handle that over PHO or some shit if you want."
I frowned at that. For all the nice atmosphere between us, Phoenix was still a stranger. I knew nothing about him aside from the fact he was apparently an introvert. It didn't help that not only were we being watched by Khepri, but we were also holding up Vicky.
But on the other hand, I'd already agreed to working with them, and I really wanted to figure out how his transformations worked. (Plus, the hospitals have been giving me more breaks then I need, so I can just use those to work with these guys, right? That'll work.) My frown grew at that, and I looked at the guy who was currently eating a heart attack in burger form... "You know those calories are going to be hell on your body, right?"
Surprisingly, he just rolled his eyes. "My girlfriend and I can work these off." The insinuation would've made me blush, but as someone that had to deal with idiots shoving things up their anus or urethra on a near daily basis, I was sort of desensitized to anything regarding sex. It didn't help that my Power would probably make the experience something insane.
"... If you say so." Wasn't my fault if he was going to ignore a doctor's words. "But how's this going to work? I'm based here in the Bay, and we're all pretty sure your base isn't here." It was an open secret that everyone had searched for the base of Pantheon, but no one had found it. So it either wasn't here, or it was very well hidden. The Changer hummed, then wiped his left hand over some tissues. That done, he dug his left hand into his pants pocket, fishing out his p...- I blinked. "Did you make a Tinker Tech phone?"
My question made him grin, and I was slowly starting to recognize the fact this asshole must've had a thing for infuriating grins. "I call it the God Phone. Best phone in all creation, and no one can tell me otherwise."
Despite the envy I had for a Tinker Tech phone, I deadpanned at him. (This is the guy that fought off The Simurgh... Fucking of course it is.)
"Anyway," Pointing the phone at himself, he hummed, and put it on the table. Before I could even question it, a display appeared, and a bracelet design showed up. "I'll make you a teleportation bracelet, though it doesn't have to be a bracelet, that'll allow you to come to our base, or The Guild. Whichever you feel like really."
The nonchalance about making and giving away something that could take me to all the way from the East Coast to Canada was sort of amusing, in a 'Yeah I can do that who gives a shit?' Kind of way. Though there was an issue there. "You're fine just giving me something that can send me to your base?" That sounded like a massive security issue in my opinion. (The Guild I could get, they're partnered with them, but the base of Pantheon? What the hell?!) His shrug was making me wonder if he actually cared about my opinion or not. (Holy shit, is this what the staff have to deal with when I'm running on fumes?) I was going to need to buy them some stuff if it was.
"If you, or anyone else makes an issue at our home, they'll die. Simple as that."
It wasn't a threat, I knew that, but the way he said it so nonchalantly made me shudder. Though, that reminded me that even though he was a Hero, he still had blood on his hands. That fact made me pause, and look at him. Emerald met Goldenrod, and he raised a brow. Seeing the cue, I went ahead and asked. "How do you deal with it?" The look in his eyes told me he didn't get it. "Killing." I knew innocent Capes had been caught in the crossfire between him and The Simurgh, but it looked like he was fine. So I had to know, had to figure him out if we were going to work together in any capacity.
Phoenix hummed, but I saw his eyes flash with something. Then, a subtle shift in posture, and I recognized that he was more... 'Here', in a sense. I couldn't explain it, I just knew the atmosphere shifted and became heavier. "There are only two people in this world I give a shit about. My girlfriend, and my Aunt. The former made me live again, while the latter is family I've chosen." I filed that away for sometime later. "That bitch hurt MY girlfriend. The love of MY life. The woman I'll eventually marry." My eyes widened at that admission, and at the 'Matter of fact' way he said it. Capes getting married wasn't THAT much of a surprise, New Wave was an example right there, but at our age?
Despite the internal conflict I was having, he went on. "We'd both kill for each other, we have killed for each other, but if either of us lost the other?" For a second, I'd swear his emerald orbs flashed the caustic green of his emblem. "We'd tear the world apart." Goosebumps ran along my body at that. "Nothing and no one would be able to stop me from burning this world down. And by some infinitesimally small chance that I die, Khepri would show the world just why her name comes from the Egyptian pantheon."
There was silence between us as I processed that entire thing, then the atmosphere reverted, and he took another bite of his burger, happily humming at the taste. That abrupt action broke me out of my stupor, and I just stared at him. (... Now I see it. Crazy bastard is crazy, got it.) I mentally huffed at that, but couldn't help but recognize something from that. (We're more alike then I thought.) I wasn't able to keep the thought of Vicky out of my mind after that whole confession. My fingers curled into fists as I thought about my Trigger, seeing my sister bleeding out in front of me...
If I wasn't able to save her, I would've probably lost it. Even now, the thought of losing Vicky was enough for me to want to lash out, dissect someone under the use of my Power and turn them into an anatomical dummy as I dissolved the upper layer of their skin. Even though he was supposed to be a Hero, he had bodies on his hands, yet didn't mind. I understood what he'd done, and why he'd done it... And I didn't know how to feel about that. It went against everything that New Wave was supposed to be, everything that I'd grown up around... But I got it, I really did. (Guess we're both monsters huh... Three if I count Khepri...) I let out a breath through my nose, and stuffed my burger into my mouth to distract myself from my intrusive thoughts.
We ate in peace, but my thoughts were anything but... Still... (If it's with people like me... Then I guess I can give them a chance. I'll need to convince Vicky, and maybe Carol too, but I can work with this. Hopefully I can work and mesh with Khepri as well as I can with Anubis.)
I had no idea if I'd be able to do so, but I had to give it a try.