Amanda Lee pushed along her scooter with purpose- Arbitrator Ginsmen had placed an order for groceries and her father wasn’t around to fulfill it. It was unusual for this to fall to her on a school night, but she took her job seriously. Ordinarily, they’d have just sent it through the delivery chutes, but Ginsmen’s delivered to the basement, and he had a hard time getting up and down the stairs these days. 

“Almost there...!” she noticed excitedly, pumping and coasting faster. So much faster, in fact, that she didn’t notice when a large feral dog ran out in front of her. “AAIIEEE!!!” She hit the thing at full speed, tumbling end over end and landing on the midwalk. “Ahhhhh... shhhhhh... mmmhhh...” Mandy clutched her skinned knee as she laid on the ground. “Ohhh god that stings...” 

Her thoughts were interrupted by a low digital growl. The dog she’d hit wasn’t a dog at all- it was a gear slave, a hunter unit. She gasped, staring at it as it slowly approached her. 

“Oh no oh no oh no-” she fumbled for her PET, hit the power button three times and screamed “ROBOT!! HELP!!!” 

The machine just kept marching forward, on and on, closer and closer. She mewled and whimpered as it stepped on her stomach, then chest. It weighed an absolute ton, too heavy to push it off despite her best efforts. She began to panic as its clamp-like mouth opened and its head drew back. 

“Nonononono!!!” she cried as it lunged for her throat and bit through her! ... No, really. It actually passed right through her, champing down on nothing but air even though they’d shared the same space. She tried again to push it off, only to realize it wasn’t on her anymore... and her hands were strange and ghostly. For that matter, the area around her had become black and red in equal measures.

A huge machine hand grabbed the gear slave by the neck and lifted it bodily off the ground, robotic dog legs scrambling for any kind of stability in the air. Natalie Grayswift- transformed into Echelon, the originator of the Flood Fill in effect- held it at robotic arm’s length as it barked and champed at her fruitlessly. “More of you?? How many did they make anyway?” After one particularly vicious attempt to bite, she reeled back and smashed it against the dark dimensional simulacrum of a tree, components flying apart.

“Babe, watch out!” Carrie called out, but too late- a Clamp had grabbed her girlfriend by the leg and inverted her. Carrie ran into the Flood Fill, tossing off her backpack and transforming into Arus in one smooth motion as the bubble passed her flesh.

“Oh, please,” Natalie dismissed her captor, performing an axe kick augmented by wind power which ripped the thing’s telescoping arm off and blasted it back into Carrie’s waiting arms. 

Carrie hoisted the entire monstrosity, standing up on the back of a bench. She tried to lift it over her in a suplex, but stumbled momentarily with its unwieldy bulk, nearly dropping it. “Gah. Fine!” Instead, she leapt off of the bench with her opponent in tow. “Get dunked!” she cried, increasing her density in mid-air and delivering a spinning piledriver that crushed the entire upper half of the machine against the blackened pavement, landing with earthshaking force.

The Flood Fill receded, and Natalie hopped on one leg as her massive plastic arms pulled at the stray clamp hand on her ankle. “Hey! You alright??”

Mandy let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “Ah! Uh... yeah! Skinned my knee, but... other than that, I’m fine! You... you saved my freaking life.”

“It’s what we’re here for!” Natalie said cheerfully, ripping the clamp off and tossing the huge arm into the ill-fitting trash bin. Carrie absentmindedly kicked the rest of the bot next to it, shrugging.

Amanda slowly got up and collected herself. “I was gonna be dog food if you didn’t show up when you did...” She looked at the refrigerated delivery crate, which had opened mid-tumble and spilled a bunch of smashed groceries across the pavement. “Oh nooo...” she groaned. “I’m gonna have to go all the way back...”

“Hey don’t worry about it!” Natalie said, picking up a receipt. “Is this the list?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s it,” she confirmed.

“No worries!” With a perky smile, she lifted the crate    I’ll just Mirror Slide over to Lee’s and refill it, then pop back over here. You can head on home!”

“Really??” Amanda breathed a visible sigh of relief into the wintery night air. “You saved my life twice tonight. I’ll call it in with Grandpa, a-and I’ll give you a good review too!”

“You be careful!” Natalie waved.

Carrie picked up her backpack. “You good?”

“Yeah, I’ll handle this, you head home too.” She leaned in.

“Thanks, I’m beat; see you tomorrow,” Carrie sighed with relief and walked toward her house.

Natalie blinked, then laughed. “Silly, she forgot her kiss. She must be tired.”

 -
- -
 -

Jacent’s apartment was aglow with holographic firelight and precious joy. Samantha stood up on a step-stool, delicately icing little gingerbread men that Jacent carefully cut out and placed. “You’re as sweet as these cookies,” Jacent remarked with a smile.

“Well you’re even sweeter than that!” Sam threw back.

“No, you are!”

“No you are!”

Sam retorted with a glob of icing directly on his nose, to which he audibly gasped. Then she kissed and licked up the glob, making his nose wrinkle up from the tickle of her tongue, and they both giggled.

Jasmine watched this from the couch, face withered. “... It’s revolting...”

Widget wheezed, trying hard not to laugh hard enough to be heard. “Jazz!”

“Can robots throw up??? Asking for a friend. The friend is me, holding my own hair as I baaaaarf.”

Widget held herself in an attempt to control herself. “I-... It is a little hard to watch... but they’re so happy!” She sidled up to her closer. “So when am I gonna get a kiss, huh?”

Jasmine laughed. “How would that even work? We have glass for faces.”

“Oh, like this!” Widget pushed her faceplate up against Jasmine’s, and the realistic feeling of kissing registered for both of them, jolting up their backs and delivering the feeling of goosebumps. 

Jasmine was bewildered. “W-... how did that... H-HEY! You tricked me and stole my first real kiss!!”

“EHEHEHE YESSS IT’S MIIINE~!” Widget jumped up and ran away, giggling like an idiot.

Jasmine considered chasing her. “..... Nah. Let her revel in it.”

“Okay! I’ll leave the rest to you!” Jacent said sunnily, taking off the apron and heading toward the bathroom- but not before kissing the bat on the cheek, and nibbling her big ear just a little to get another giggle out of her. He turned on the water and began washing the cinnamon and sugar off of his face and hands. When he opened his eyes again, he saw her- his sister, leaned up against the wall, in the mirror.

“Well aren’t you looking domesticated.”

“What’s the matter, JiěJiě, can’t have fun if we’re not smashing mailboxes?” he mocked her with a smile.

Jazz mocked surprise. “Oh you’re so sassy now!”

He dried his hands gently. “I had to catch up with you eventually, didn’t I?”

A moment of silence passed between them.

“So, are you ready for school tomorrow?”

Jazz folded her arms. “I’m only going so that there’ll be more eyes on the young kids- if anyone tries anything, I’ll crack some skulls!”

He nodded. “Sure. Just remember what Dr. Grayswift said about that body.”

“Metal bones aside, it’s only as strong and tough as a human body, yeah, I know... and... that we don’t know what’ll happen if the box gets busted since I’m anchored to it, now. But I mean, they’re pretty damn tough, so it’s not a big worry, right??” He shrugged, unsure of these technical questions. She looked down at her hands. “... Did she really pull that much favor to get me expensive parts she can’t replace?”

“She likes you,” Jacent said encouragingly.

“Heh, she barely knows me.”

“She knows enough,” he assured her, then left to check on the cookies.

Jazz stayed there, and stewed in her thoughts. 

 -
- -
 -

The weights felt heavier tonight.

Not that they needed to- 450 pounds didn’t exactly feel light the last time Carrie lifted it, setting a school record and bathing in the accolades.

But that was before everyone knew she had an inkling.

“It’s been 20 minutes,” Arus noted from her position as spotter. “Maybe we should skip today.”

“Rrrrgh no!” Carrie insisted. “The exhibition is the day after tomorrow, I have to be able to!” 

“Be that as it may, it doesn’t look like you’re getting any closer.”

Carrie closed her eyes, panting tiredly. “Yeah, no shit.”

Arus switched off the power source that made the light and strong bar into an onerous weight.

Carrie put up the hand bars. “...” She licked her lips. “... Did you-”

“For the tenth time, no, I did not help you win that award,” Arus retorted haughtily, which looked funny on a white pile of goo dressed only in her host’s lingerie. “I saved you from one auto crash, and spent the next six years in an injured, semi-conscious fugue, trying to hide.”

The cat frowned. “What about during the fights?” She remembered the first night of the invasion, Natalie convincing her she was special. “Why didn’t those punches hurt me, but they hurt Natalie?”

Arus looked at her with the closest approximation to incredulity a marshmallow goo girl could. “Because Cedric got his arm width entirely from puberty, while you are a bulging wall of angry meat.”

“I... yeah, I guess.” Carrie sighed. “So why can’t I do this?”

Arus just stared at her. “You know why.”

They stared at each other for a long time.

“Pumpkin?” came Hugh’s muffled voice from the door. “I know you’re having fun but it’s time to go to bed if you don’t want to be tired!”

Carrie didn’t even have the energy to be annoyed; sleep sounded great. “Okay, Daddy.”

 -
- -
 -

“Delivery!”

Arbitrator Ginsmen answered the door in his evening clothes, carrying an open book in one hand. “Little late, I ordered this afternoo-” he looked up and saw, instead of a lanky panda girl, the Hero of Locksmouth, wearing a delivery hat that was too big for her. “... That hard up for money? I said they should pay you kids.”

Natalie laughed. “One time job. Here’s your food!”

“Oh, uh.” He seemed a little vulnerable and awkward suddenly. “Amanda always carries it to the counter for me.”

She was surprised, though on reflection, it made sense. “Yeah, okay uh-”

“Around this corner, take a right, can’t miss it.”

Natalie hefted the crate easily, marching it into Ginsmen’s kitchen and gently laying it down, making extra sure not to rattle or jostle anything- she was still getting used these monstrous prosthetics her mom had given her after smashing the last three much more delicate pairs doing her thing. They were tough and easy to repair, at the cost of being a lot less dextrous; she’d thumped her head scratching her nose several times already.

Nevertheless, she took it slow and managed not to be too rough with the old man’s perishables. Taking a look around, his place was modest, except for the obscene number of books that were sitting around everywhere- most of them bookmarked and half-finished. By the look of the large well-worn reading chair, he really seemed to live out of the study a lot, it seemed- even the bedroom was a bit far to get to for him.

“Thanks,” Ginsmen nodded.

She paused thoughtfully. “... Getting old seems hard.”

He considered her for a moment. Then pointed to her arms with his book. “Yes, well, wouldn’t it be a shame to never find out?”

She blinked, then folded her arms and smiled. “Don’t worry about me. I got this.” And with that, she left.

He tilted his head, jut his bottom lip out and nodded in silent acquiescence.

 -
- -
 -

The next day came, and with it, lessons.

“Alright, so if we have Gravitron, First Officer of the MegaBots trying to take off from the equator at this angle at 2:23PM, and he’s got ten minutes-”

Math class wasn’t actually boring- school wasn’t boring in general, despite her protestations about the usefulness of the knowledge to specifically her- but even with Mr. Belvior’s fun examples, Carrie just couldn’t focus. She stared up at the board with little interest, her eyes fixed on the figures, but her mind...

~(_)~

“Order Eighty-Four!” Ivanovich roared from the front counter, easily setting down two heaping trays of fast food, wrapped sandwiches stacked in twin pyramids.

“I got it!” Jasmine walked up to the counter, Jacent not far behind her as the rest of the pack chatted and carried on. 

“Your rations are ready!” the polar bear said with a grin. “It’s all you get.” 

Jasmine laughed sharply. “I love you guys, your theming is great!” She looked down. “Oh hey gimme some extra ketchup, would you??”

The burly man pointed behind her. “You get ketchup at the condiment station.”

She considered this. “As much ketchup as I want?? Nice.” 

A tall, broad-shouldered caribou popped the top back on his drink and glared at the back of her head, muttering “What do you need it for...”

Jacent’s eyes widened as his sister froze. Placing the food on the counter, she turned around and grabbed the collar of the antlered man’s shirt, yanking his head down to her level. He was shocked as she dropped her hologram entirely. “Hey, piss lips, if you want to say something-” she grit her teeth in a malicious grin and twisted the collar, choking up on his neck, “-say it to my face.”

She was brought out of the moment by a smack on the arm, which made her release the man. “Jiějiě.”

“Ow!” Jasmine tried to hit Jacent back, but was blocked, and she tried again unsuccessfully several times until he pointed at the food on the counter. “Ugh! Fine.” She rolled her eyes and took the tray. The caribou was already out the door, shaken.

“This isn’t the old world, you can’t just assault people for being rude,” Jacent chided.

“He earned it,” she whispered furiously. “I’ve had this body for three days and I’m getting more stink-eye than I did when I was a ghost!”

“Pace yourself,” Jacent gently reminded her. “The inklings were unwanted at first as well, but people have come around to them.”

She let out a testy sigh. “Yeah, because the inklings drove back the robots, who they hate way more.”

“You guys good?” Natalie asked from the booth side of the banquette.

“Yeah, all good,” Jasmine shrugged as if nothing happened.

Max licked his chops from his perch on the back of the banquette. “C’mon, c’mon! I’m hungry, and I wanna see how this thing works!” 

Widget, sitting opposite Jasmine, reached into her satchel and pulled out a strange device that looked like a small bucket full of teeth. Stadium-style concentric rings lined with flat and sharp protrusions made the thing look like either a strange blender or some kind of torture device. She flicked it on and the rings spun one after another in a test pattern. “Alright, Jazz, you ready to try The Metal Mouth??”

Jasmine unwrapped a perfectly crafted Single Dictator Burger and held it in her hands. “So I just... put it in there...?”

Widget bounced in her seat, excited to get to share this experience with her. “Yep! We’re both synced up, toss it in!”

Jasmine cocked a brow, then slowly, unsurely dropped the cheeseburger into the bucket.

Widget flipped the lid shut. “Never chew with your mouth open.” She grinned. With a flick of the switch, the device began whirring quietly as the internal components moved, twisted and mashed the contents of the bucket.

Jazz blinked as she felt the sensation of her mouth being full, reflected on her screen face. All at once, it came- the smells, the tastes, the flavors, even the heat. “Mm! Hm?! Mmnh...” She looked out into space and then shut her eyes. “Mmmmmmh~!” She felt tears in her eyes as she tasted the first thing she’d eaten in at least six years. “It’s sho good...!” 

“Mm, mm, right??” Widget nodded enthusiastically.

“I don’t even like burgers that much... but this is... ohhh man... yesss...!” Jasmine stretched her arms above her and slunk back in the chair, going slack at the ordinary pleasures of life. 

“So gross...” Gren marveled.

“So cool!” Max delighted.

“I’m happy for you, Jazz,” Jacent said encouragingly. “If you can manage to behave, I’ll make you potstickers tonight.”

Jasmine’s eyes grew wide as the biggest gremlin grin grew across her face. “Potstickers?!”

~(_)~

“Carrie?”

“Uh??” She looked up at Mr. Belvoir. 

“Class is over. Did you need something?”

She looked around at the empty classroom- she hadn’t even noticed. “Oh. Uh, no, sorry. See ya.”

 -
- -
 -

A white cat stood in the weight room, breathing, but otherwise not moving. Her eyes distant, her shoulders slack.

“Hey, Carrie!” In walked Vanessa Lacmire, a muscular, melanistic blue tongued skink with iridescent purple scales, wearing the 26th century equivalent of powerlifters’ tights. “Been a long time since I’ve seen you in here.”

Carrie just barely acknowledged her. “Yeah...”

“... You found a way to move that set with your mind?” she asked with a smile.

“... Oh. Sorry.” She moved aside, giving up the barbell on the floor to the other girl. 

“Mind helping me take off a hundred? I don’t want to blow myself out on this heap you’ve got,” she ribbed her. “I know it’s probably a little light for you, you’d probably prefer an extra car on each end, right?”

That finally got a smile out of Carrie. “That’s not really me, that’s-... well.” She trailed off and used Arus to remove the weights from it.

“Arus?” Her brows lifted. “Boy, I’d love to have that. All that power! It must be a blast.”

“I mean. I’m strong without Arus,” she insisted.

“Oh, I mean. Sure, yeah,” Vanessa acknowledged. “But inkling power, that’s on a whole other level. And you two, you’re inseparable.”

“Tell her that,” Arus said coldly, separating and leaning her back against the wall, arms folded.

Carrie frowned. “A-... Arus, it’s not like that.” She looked around. “I just... I want this, for me.”

“To prove you don’t need me?”

She sighed. “... Arus, you’re being impossible about this.”

Vanessa slunk over, amicable as ever. “Heeey, goo girl, she doesn’t mean it like that! It’s just about personal pride.”

Arus hmphed. “But it isn’t.”

Vanessa blinked. “What do you mean?”

Arus glared at Carrie. “This is about something else. Something she’s avoiding. And she won’t just do it.”

Carrie shut her eyes and sighed. “And I told you, I can’t.”

“Fine. Then I will.” Arus walked out of the weight room.

“What?? Wait! Arus, no!” She turned back toward Vanessa.

She smirked. “Better go after her.”

Carrie sighed in frustration and followed, thoughts clouding her mind.

 -
- -
 -

Ms. Lee had been very surprised when a teenage pre-splice human had attended her classroom for a time.

When a second one came in, she really didn’t know if ‘surprise’ was the right word for it.

A circle of children made messes of canvases with their hands. One of them looked up. “My daddy says robots are bad.”

“What about the robot in the Carbolate machine? Is he bad?” Jazz retorted. 

“There’s a robot in the soda machine...?”

Jasmine rolled her eyes and grinned. “There’s a robot in every machine? That’s why they’re called machines?? Duhhh.”

“So what kinda machine are you??”

She shrugged, showing her top teeth. “The kind that fingerpaints, obviously.” She scooted forward in her chair loudly.

Another child in the circle’s nose wrinkled. “Ewww, did you fart??”

Jazz’s face flattened. “If I farted the whole school would know. It’d sound like a cannon going off, and leave a big black cloud that smells like burning engine oil.”

She giggled helplessly. “Nuh-uh!!”

Another kid’s eyes crossed as he fake-coughed and fell over. “AHACK, AHACK, I’mb dyiiing...”

Jasmine pointed at him with her scissors. “Yeah, see? Just like that. Thank you for the demonstration.”

With that, the children returned to the assignment with gusto, using fingerpaints and crayons to illustrate whatever they wanted. Some drew family members, others depicted their favorite cartoon characters, and still others just made blobs and scribbles.

“Nice elephant,” Tyler said.

Jazz’s brows knit. “Giraffe!” Her indignance made Tyler giggle. “... Hey, don’t laugh!” This just made even more children start snickering. “Alright, smart guy, let’s see yours!”

Tyler blinked and handed over his art project.

Jazz took it with predatory glee, eyes tracing over the page. “...”

She frowned. 
“Damn, he’s good.”

Tyler gave her a cheesy grin as he took back his picture.

“Don’t rest easy on your laurels, Tyler.” She peered at him from behind her pointing finger. “You’ve got a weakness, and I’m gonna find it!”

The sheep boy stuck his tongue out at her, unmoved by her threats.

Ms. Lee raised her eyebrows patiently. “Now now Tyler, you’re not using SMART.”

Jazz put her hands on her hips and tilted her head petulantly. “Um yeah, you’re not using SMART, Tyler.”

“... Which is, Ms. Long?”

“Ssssshare... many... arguably... real... tits- wait, shit- ah, fuck! WAIT HANG ON-”

The children started giggling uproariously as she fell ass-first into a string of reflexive curses. 

Ms. Lee walked forward. “Jasmine-”

“I didn’t do it on purpose- I barely said anything- w- he started it!” she sputtered, folding her arms and trying to seem like the victim. 

“Jasmine,” Ms. Lee repeated gently but firmly. “SMART stands for Slow down, Mind your manners, Ask questions, Repair friendships and Try to do better.”

Jazz made a face. “Eugh, can I just go to detention?”

Ms. Lee bent forward. “No.”

She sunk in her chair as the class giggled. “Maaaaan...!”

 -
- -
 -

The Remedial Drama room was a mess. Well, no, that wasn’t true. The multifarious chairs, instruments, spare desks and other odds and ends had been organized by type and stacked up where possible along the walls in their respective categories. No, the Remedial Drama room was cluttered, but it wasn’t a mess.

That distinction, Natalie supposed as she attacked the sandbag, was very important. Her own life was full of many different unrelated problems – her town, her friends, the inklings, the robots, the psycos, and a myriad of people who wanted to see her as a commemorative engraving in the past tense – but they were no longer the overwhelming force they once were, attacking her blindspot and threatening to throw the whole world into chaos.

With the benefit of time, training and direction from Team Reference & Team Rust, she’d routed her enemies, rallied her allies and wrangled the threats that remained. It wasn’t just that she was strong (though she was), it was that the people of her town were behind her. They were her eyes, ears and anchor to any problem that existed. And it wasn’t just her town, either – Echelon had created anchor points on many, many mirrors and sent them by train to just about every corner of the earth she could manage. It didn’t matter what the problem was, she was ready.

“Natalie, I have to talk to you!”
“Natalie, don’t listen to her!”

Okay, she was almost ready. “Whoa, whoa!” She held up her big plastic hands. “What’s going on??”

Arus shouldered past Carrie. “She’s upset you didn’t send her the message!”

Natalie made a confused dog face. “What message?”

Carrie rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine. Remember Biggy D’s? Right after the beach party?”

~(_)~

“I heard someone has birthday today!” Ivanovich said loudly, approaching the booth Natalie’s friends were at.

Grendolyn Murcbee quietly giggled as she bashfully raised her hand.

“Ah, perfect!” The polar bear put a paper crown on her head. 

“Hey, lookin’ good birthday queen!” Natalie grinned. 

“Eeheehee, thanks,” Gren twisted in her seat as she grinned ear to ear.

“And now it’s time to depose you!” Ivanovich announced.

She blinked. “What?? Oh god I forgot about that wait wait wait-”

He picked her up bodily. “Now you’re going into the gulag~! ♫” he sang as he tossed her into the ball pit, squealing.

Aren ran up to the large bear man, flustered. “Hey! You can’t do that to her!” He put up his fists. Ivanovich smiled and turned to face him.

“AAAAAH!!” Aren cried as he was thrown right into the ‘gulag’ after her. 

“Awww!” Gren laughed as he struggled to get above ball level, flailing. “That was... kinda sweet...”

Aren stopped struggling and stared at her, then quickly looked away, flushing. “W-... W-Well I just-...”

“Think fast!” She threw a plastic ball at him, ~THOONK~ing against his forehead.

“AH!” He scrambled and returned fire. Soon both of them were throwing plastic orbs at each other with both arms and shouting.

Nat’s pack laughed as Gren and Ten played, stuck in their immature impulses even as they entered a new phase of their lives.

Just below the commotion, Erwin was talking to Shelly. “So what did you answer?”

“What, like-” she read something on the back of her sunglasses. “Ohhhh! Like the text message from Natalie, right?”

Carrie began listening in.

“Yeah! What did you answer? I mean if you don’t mind.”

“Uhhh. Yeah, no, I’m like, opting out,” Shelly answered. “This pack totally rocks, but that stuff is like, way too stressful for me- I’m just not cut out for it.”

“Yeah, fair,” Erwin replied. “You did help us out a lot though, so everyone appreciates it.” He smiled at her genuinely.

“Thanks! I was like, just so relieved to get to say so privately, you know? I’m totally bad at confrontation.” She read something else. “Oh! What about you?”

“Me? Oh, I’m definitely sticking around to help out,” he folded his arms and nodded. “Sam needs somebody to do her research for her, and I’ll be stuck doing tech support for the SCIFI until my dying days at this rate,” he shrugged with a smirk.

“Wow like, Samantha said ‘yes’???”

“I know, right?” Erwin laughed. “I thought for sure she’d be the first one to bail when Natalie sent that message. Being with Jacent’s really changed her.”

“Hey,” Carrie interrupted, walking over. “What message?”

“Oh!” Shelly pulled out her PET. “This one!”

[BagelHunter: Hey. I’ve re-written this message a hundred times. I just want you all to know that I appreciate you a lot. Back during the First Invasion, we didn’t have time to consider anybody’s feelings, and since then, we’ve just sort of been on autopilot. Saving the world is dangerous, stressful, and a lot of work, and I’d feel terrible knowing that I’d pressed any of my friends into it against their wishes. So, this is your chance. If you’re tired of fighting, if you’re scared, if you want to quit doing this hero business for any reason at all, tick the box and message me back.

◼I want in
◼I want out

You’re still part of my pack no matter what you choose. Love you guys. -Natalie]

Carrie stared at the message blankly, the expression on her face inscrutable.

“You didn’t get one??” Erwin asked. “... Oh of course not, she’d have talked to you personally, duh.” He laughed.

“...” Carrie laughed softly. “Yeah.”

~(_)~

Carrie didn’t meet her eyes as she finished explaining how she’d come to find out about it.

“... Oh. That message,” Natalie realized soberly.

“Look!” Carrie put up her hands and looked to the side. “I didn’t bring it up, because I know, okay? I get it.”

“... Know??”

“Yes, I understand, okay. You can’t let me quit,” she huffed with aggravation. “I guess I was just... it was just upsetting, you know?” She squeezed the sleeve of her weightlifting leotard. “Having to learn that way, that everyone else got a choice.” She shifted, agitated. “I just, I mean, you know! I never wanted to do this. You know that. You gave me that big speech in the locker room, back on the first day. I told you no, and you... you told me yes. And there really wasn’t anything I could do about it.” She folded her arms and compacted, unable to hide her sour feelings. “And it just. It pissed me off, okay?” 

Natalie’s eyes went wide. “Carrie-”

“I know, I know! It’s too late! I didn’t want to say any of this anyway!” She glared at Arus. “I know that I can’t get out of this, so let’s just forget it ever happened, okay??”

“But you... you can,” Natalie responded, bewildered.

Carrie was snapped out of her explanation. “... What?”

“I sent you that message too,” she responded, pulling her PET out and bringing it up. “You were the first one on the list.” And sure enough, in the very first slot for recipients, there it was:

PrincessPussycat.

Carrie felt numb as she looked at it. “Oh my god. You really did send it to me. You gave me a way out, I-...” Her eyes welled up with tears. “Natalie...”

Natalie smiled softly. “... Yeah...?”

She laughed, crying. “... That’s the old PET I gave to Jacent, you fucking ding-dong...”

“W-” She looked at the PET, then Carrie, then back. “Oh son of a bitch!” She grasped her head in both hands. “He never changed the fucking naaaame!!!”

Carrie’s face was wet with tears as she fell back into a chair laughing.

Natalie plopped into the chair next to her with exasperation. “Oh my gaaaawd-uh. I thought you just needed time to think it over!”

“And I thought... you know...” Carrie shrugged. “Ahhh, but I... should’ve said something.”

“Yes, you should have.” Arus folded her arms. “And as soon as I got my way, this was resolved. Lesson learned: I am always right.”

“Oh my god,” Carrie muttered. “She’s gonna be unstandable for weeks.”

“Like you’ve been??” Arus demanded. “Cold and distant day after day, because you’d associated me with this unwanted job nobody actually forced you to do. And then you didn’t even have the courage to bring it up.” She shook her head. “I expected better from you.”

Echelon pulled away and put a hand on her partner in crime’s shoulder. “Come on, Arus, she was trying not to put Natalie in a difficult position. It wasn’t totally selfish, give her a break.”

“She’s just gonna be like that for a while, Echelon,” Carrie said. “Are you sure you can do this without me though...?” she asked.

“Babe, I pressed you into this because at the time I thought you were the only person on earth with superpowers,” she reminded her. “Obviously, it’s different now. I mean, I’ve got you with me wherever I go,” she said, twirling her hair braid’s light blue section. “You can just leave it up to me, I won’t hold it against you even a little bit.”

The school intercom system began emitting an alarm sound. There was trouble. Here.

Natalie jumped up and merged with Echelon. “And I’ll prove it to you right now, stay here!”

Carrie blinked and stood up, but stopped and watched her leave. “... Uh. Hm. Okay.” She sat down as the alarm continued. She and Arus traded a look. “... Feels kinda weird to just sit here.”

“Indeed,” Arus responded, folding her arms.

Carrie looked all over the room, trying to distract herself from this internal conflict. Her gaze finally caught it: the mirror against the wall. It was one of them they used to catch people attempting to get Echelon’s attention. Carrie’s eyes shot open as she saw a place she didn’t recognize, and read the word: HELP. “... Ah, shit, here we go again.”

 -
- -
 -

Jasmine stopped her fourth attempt to make a clearer example of the animal she’d wanted to draw... to drink in her environment. She was surrounded by kids- good kids, happy kids- all being creative and not having a care in the world despite everything that had happened. Something about it put her at peace. “Hey Tyler, let me have the brown?”

“Say please!” He grinned, missing a tooth.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, brother. Fiiiine. Can I have the brown...” she faked retching. “Ple-”

“-EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” screamed the students as a colossal monster made out of blood and darkness formed from the very shadows of the corner of the room. It was hard to tell what it was at first, but as it unfurled to barely fit within its confines, its form became clear: a mature Phantom Bugape.

Jasmine dropped her scissors. “Oh, shit.”

Chaos broke loose as it moved forward, triple ruby red eyes looking down as its head spun slowly, clicking against its gear-like neck. Jazz’s classmates screamed and cried as it began grabbing children by the massive handful. She ran to the back of the class, found the metal bat her friends had gifted her for Weird Furry Blanket Christmas and grabbed it, jumping on and dashing across desks. With terrible inevitability, the behemoth began to lower its head and raise a fistful of crying children above it, ready to drop them down into its open mouth grinder.

“No you fucking... DON’T!!” She held the bat like a Chinese sword, palm behind the pommel and shoved it into the nightmare beast’s top eye, making it writhe and shudder- and most importantly, drop the kids. They tumbled to the floor before the acceleration dampeners kicked in, softening the last few inches of the fall and leaving them simply dazed.

“FLOOD FILL!” a female voice rang out, filling the classroom with black and red.

Jazz grinned. “Yesss! The cavalry-” she looked around. “Wait. What??” Then, to her horror, she found the one who was inked.

Ms. Lee’s skin had gone gray, and she now cowered behind her desk, the only possible target for the massive monster.

“What? No. No no no!” Jasmine cried.

“R-Run, kids!” Ms. Lee yelled, shaking with terror as the beast turned toward her, shoving the simulacrum of her desk away like it were a toy.

“Ms. Lee!” Tyler cried. He pulled on Jasmine’s dress. “Please, please, you have to help her!!” he pleaded desperately.

Jazz ran up, bat in hand, experimentally swinging at the thing and hitting only air. “Let me in!” she ordered.

Ms. Lee shook her head, crying. “No! No you’re my student too!” she bumped into the corner of the room.

“YOU WILL LET ME IN NOW.”

Something about the directness of the directive shook Ms. Lee out of her panic and willed the Flood Fill to allow Jasmine into it. The bugape reared its fist back and punched the panda teacher as hard as it could. Wall crumbled, ceiling fell, and Ms. Lee gasped in a panic on the floor, having just managed to half-jump half-fall out of the way in time.

Jasmine’s feet left the floor from the force when she overhead slammed her bat down on the Bugape’s foot, eliciting a gurgling pain sound. 

“Yeah, that’s right, Spin Cycle, I’m the one who poked you in the eye! You gonna get revenge or what??” The air in front of Jasmine blew her hair and dress as the thing took a wild swipe at her; she bent backward diagonally and backed up, bouncing on her toes. Whatever in her systems was simulating adrenaline was doing a damn good job, because she could feel that jittery electric sensation throughout her body. “Hah!” She rolled away from a giant punch that sent floor tiles flying, then retreated to the classroom door. “C’mon, c’mooon...”

“B-Be careful...!” Ms. Lee cautioned.

Enraged by her evasiveness, the phantom bugape swung itself on its knuckles and landed with ground-shaking force as it shoulder-checked the wall, blowing all the way out into the hallway and slamming its head against the adjascent wall. It gurgled in shock, crumpled in a giant pile.

Jasmine’s plan had worked- it was away from the kids and her teacher. “... Now what.” Getting it to hurt itself had been pretty damn clever, if she did say so herself, but it wasn’t a long-term solution. She didn’t know if she had enough juice to leave her body long enough to fight, and losing that bet would leave it vulnerable. But staying in her body meant her offense was limited... her thoughts were interrupted by the alarm beginning to blare over the intercom. Help was on the way! But it would take time- and the downside of the loud noises was that they woke the damn thing up. “Ah, shit...” Her mind raced, looking left and right.

[Remove Limiters? (!Authorities will be notified!)]

The thing gurgle-groaned and began to rise. Her mind fixated on the HUD warning.

[Remove Limiters? (!Authorities will be notified!) ]

It shifted and swirled in her mind like a tempting snake made of sweet, scintillating poison. The very idea of it pulled at her pleasure center like a hard drink to a desperate drunk – which was insane, because she had never done this before.

[authRemove Limitersnotif]
[fiedRemove Limitersautho]
[authRemove Limitersnotif]

The phantom bugape raged, ripping its arm through the wall behind it and gathering a massive boulder of construction material to throw at her.

[///Input Passphrase///]

Her reactor spun up loudly. Her pupils shrunk.

“Call the cops, they can’t unfuck you.”

[///Limiters Deactivated///]

The shotgun blast of constructive plastics and structural metals exploded at her feet. Jazz observed the break pattern, stood on one foot, put her hands out in front of her and swan-dived through the mess of them, rolling to her feet on the other side. 

The thing had enough time to look at her before she was running up its torso, feet impacting its chitinous shell with booming, shaking thumps. She rammed the bat up through one of its three mouths to its loud, pained displeasure, and pumped her legs like she were on a swingset, rolling up and over, and over, and over and over, grinding and stripping the thing’s spiral teeth away.

The bugape, enraged, grabbed its own head to halt its momentum and grabbed for her with the other. Thighs wrapped around its head, she pulled the bat free like an inverted Excalibur, swung it at the incoming hand with all of her might and whip-cracked its entire arm into the wall from the impact. Not wasting a moment, she drove the metal rod into the top of its chitinous chestplate, lifted herself up bodily, crouched between the bat and its head, and straightened her body with all of her strength. The chestplate ripped free, exposing its vital organs, and it shook her off, gurgling in monstrous pain.

Normal time resumed suddenly.

[///Power Load Exceeded///] 
[/////////Reducing Load/////////]
[/////Limiters Reactivated/////]

Jazz frowned from her place on the floor, at the giant monster who was now enraged, in agony and in fight or fight mode. “... McFly, you bojo,” she groaned to herself as it lifted her in its hand and began to squeeze. “Agh... h-hey... you wouldn’t happen to honor a... timeout, wouldja...?” Her whole world went pitch black. Then a bright light flashed. “Shit, n-not like this...”

And then her bat flew like Superman into the monster’s exposed heart as if it had a mind of its own. The shocked bugape turned into ash and darkness and faded away like sand in the desert wind.

“Magnetic Shadowflash... now that’s a pretty good Combolation...” Natalie mused as she walked up, the Flood Fill fading and the pristine school coming back into reality.

“Oh! OH!” Jazz rejoiced. “Fuck yeah, Buttdog to the rescue!!” She tried to get up to hug her, but only managed her waist, with the terrible condition her joints were now in.

“Buttdog?!” she complained, then sighed, patting her head. “Is everyone okay??” 

Ms. Lee opened the door cautiously, then sighed in relief. “Oh thank you so much! The children are all fine, thanks to you!” She stopped and looked at Jazz, who couldn’t seem to stand. “Oh no! Jasmine...” she put a hand on her face. “Did it hurt you badly? Do you need to go to the N-... uh... Machine Shop Class...?”

“Oh, you... guys didn’t see the fight, huh...?” Jasmine realized. 

“No, we were all in the back trying to stay out of your way.”

“Smart! Yeah, good idea!” She breathed a sigh of relief.

“That was so weird...” Natalie mentioned, shutting off the alarm. “Why a phantom here all of a sudden...?”

 -
- -
 -

Arus flew through a polished steel mirror in what looked like a rustic but cozy shack, landing with a ~THUD~. A young freckled llama girl dressed in ornate but roughly sewn cotton clothing looked to be in tears. “You came, you really came!!”

“Yeah,” Carrie agreed, trying to figure out where she was as Arus receded. “What’s the problem?”

The girl pushed the door open revealing a wild plain upon which many similar shacks were built- this was an out-of-dome settlement. “Hurry, hurry!!” She ran out of the house toward a multi-story brick house that was now sagging into the ground, leaned over to one side. Many adults in similar garb were working frenziedly. “My brother was playing in the basement when the foundation of the house crumbled! We don’t know where he is or if he’s okay and I just, I, I-” she tried desperately to tell her through her panicking sobs. 

Carrie kept pace with her, regretting she’d not included a little more running in her workouts. She saw the adults trying to jack up the house and being met with limited success before the jack completely buckled under the pressure, the house settling back into its original spot. “Has anyone tried going in the house??”

“No!! We’re afraid if we go in it’ll squish him!!” Her words were immature, but she knew how dire the consequences were.

A large stocky llama man and at least half a dozen other adults struggled to push the house over to the other side- something they could not manage even with their combined strength- and the increasing futility only made them more desperate. “Vidalia!” he cried. “Who is this stranger??”

“She’s the lady from the mirror, Papa, she’s here to help!”

“One of those monsters?? They’ll only bring troub- NNGH!” His eyes darted in a panic; all the movement was making the foundation shift and crack even worse. “No... No no no!! Not now!!!” But against his wishes, it shuddered, and rumbled.

“Get outta the goddamn way!!” Carrie rushed over into the middle of the group, set her feet, squatted, and shoved her hands into the debris like spatulas under a cake.

“What’re you doing?! You’ll make it worse!” the man cried. 

“Hrrrngh!!” Carrie grunted loudly as her wrists blew through plaster and mortar until they hit foundation. She dug her claws into the corner of the house and lifted with all of her and Arus’ might. Wood groaned and brick crumbled as the house began to lift before the villagers’ very eyes. The house now balanced on one end, like a chair someone had leaned back in, and they marveled in disbelief.

“PAPA! I SEE HIM!!” the llama girl cried, pointing to a diminutive boy that looked much like she did, but buried in debris, wooden toys and crushed furniture. He was breathing shallowly, though it was hard to tell. He was also... on the far end of the basement, with no clearance room to retrieve him, even for a child.

The large llama man looked at Carrie with pleading, tearful eyes. “Can-...” He swallowed. “Can you lift it higher? ... Please??”

“Dammit, I-... I don’t know...” The weights haunted her vision. “If I push Arus like this, she might just pull off of me completely...”

Arus made her voice loud and clear. “When are you going to get it through your thick head? I left on my own as a favor to Echelon, but ever since you accepted me, I have never once allowed anyone or anything to separate us by force.”

Carrie was stunned at the revelation. Yeah. That was right. It wasn’t just Arus who was unbreakable- their bond was, too. And she’d let something as stupid as that get in the way of it, when Arus had remained so loyal...

“Now believe in our combined strength!” Arus commanded.

This filled her with valor. “... Clear out.” Carrie grit her teeth in determination. “Arus.”

Arus’ energy began to emanate from her, exemplifying her very essence. The ground cracked as Carrie’s shaded feet dug into rock. 

Her claws dug in deeper, and she tilted the house with her wrists, swaying it toward her. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!” She screamed as she hoisted the entire building with all of her might, throwing it up, over and behind her, clearing her body and landing with a deafening crash. She landed on the ground, face up, vision swimming. Everything went dark, but for a few moments, she could still hear. 

Weak rasping. “Papa... our house...”

Overjoyed crying. “It’s okay, Mijo... we’ll build another house...!”

Then, blissful silence.

 -
- -
 -

Carrie came back to consciousness in the Remedial Drama room, surrounded by friends.

“She’s waking up!” Samantha whispered. “Oh goodness, dearie, are you alright??”

“Bro!” Max exclaimed. “You suplexed a house, that’s so friggin’ rad!!”

Natalie ran her huge plastic fingers through her hair. “Sorry we weren’t there to help! You okay??”

Carrie grunted as she sat up. She felt weak. Incredibly weak. Her muscles felt like jello, and the tell-tale signs of mild prana sickness that came with shading coursed through her body in a frail ache. “Ugh, I feel like shit, but I’m fine.”

Sam nodded. “We joined hands and gave you a generous helping of prana, but the side effects will take some time to go away.”

“Nnhhh... fine.” She managed to sit up and take a thermos of hot soup from the lunch room that was offered to her. “... What about the kid??” She sat up higher.

The bat pushed her down again and patted her chest. “The child was fine. He had some injuries, but I was able to fix them in a jiffy. His father was beside himself with relief- said we’re all welcome to his village whenever we like.” She smiled impishly. “Seems you’re quite the diplomat, Pussy.”

“And doing my work for me,” sighed Natalie. “Sorry, I should have had Max manning the mirror in here or something. But starting now, you can just stop and-”

“I’m staying on the team.”

Natalie blinked, struck into silence. Then laughed. “What?? After all that???”

Carrie shrugged. “Weird thing. When I thought I was trapped, it was all I could think about.” She took a sip of the soup, then swallowed gratefully. “As soon as I knew I was free... I just wanted right back in.”

Natalie smirked. “... You just didn’t want to be taken for granted.”

“Heh. Yeah.”

Samantha smiled. “How about we take you home? You and Jasmine could use some rest and fussing over.”

“... What happened to Jazz?”

Max grinned. “It was awesome, we’ll tell you on the way. Ready to go?”

“... Wait. I need to do one thing before we leave.”

 -
- -
 -

Vanessa Lacmire pulled her backpack on and got ready to head home. On her way out of class, however, she passed by the weight room. “... Somebody leave the light on?” She walked over to it and opened the door. “Carrie, you still in here?”

She found a note on the bench set.

[Van,
I don’t need to do this anymore.
You break the record. I’ll be rooting for you.
-Cat]

“... Me? The next Oakenfield?” A smile crept across Vanessa’s lips. “... Kinda like the sound of that.”

 -
- -
 -

Natalie Grayswift lumbered into her own house with all the grace of a drunk. She kicked her shoes off and tossed her backpack onto the couch, having had no chance to even look at the homework assigned earlier in the day. Much earlier, in fact – it was the dead of night, thanks to yet another stray gear slave she’d had to hunt down and neutralize. Only the dim blue light of the kitchen around the corner was there to navigate by... and she didn’t feel up to the trip. The teenage girl flumped down on the couch, let out a long moan of relief and relaxed.

Echelon stood up from the couch and looked down at her host. What had started as ‘I’ll just rest for a minute’ turned into loudly snoring with her head tilted back. Echelon shook her head and padded into the kitchen. A square container sat in the fridge with a note.

[At it again, kiddo? Try to feed yourself at least. Can’t hero on an empty stomach. -Mom]

Echelon smiled, even Lorna’s written word filling her with a familial warmth. Her fluid fingers popped the top on the container, placed the contents in the microwave and dialed in the Reheat function. The warm yellow glow of the gated oven soothed her as she thought fondly about her place here. At first she’d been too shy to even be out and about, the gift that Natalie had given her... but lately she felt like one of the family. A sister. A daughter. Real family – the kind that didn’t threaten you or hunt you down. The kind that didn’t make you for the express purpose of seeing you try and fail to overthrow them. The kind that was there for one another. “Hn...” The miniature oven let out a dulcimer trio of xylophone tones. “Ah, it’s done, good.” She pulled the ham and cheese bagel melt out and took it to Natalie, setting it on the table. 

Natalie snored away on the couch... but her nose twitched. She smacked her lips and her tail wagged as her eyes squinted open. “Oh, food...?”

“Yeah,” Echelon answered, smirking. “It’s been all day since you had anything to eat.” She ruffled Natalie’s hair as the girl bit into the cheesy treat. They said nothing as she ate; both girls simply enjoyed the serene quiet of the night.

“Mmm, that was great,” Natalie yawned. 

“Did you remember to chew??” Echelon laughed, walking up the stairs. 

“Who caaares,” she droned before pushing her hands into Echelon’s big blackberry globes. “Get a move on, jello butt, I’m sleepy!”

“Haha, hey! Quiddit!”

Echelon made the bed as Natalie cleaned her teeth. They met again in the bedroom, where Echelon helped her put on her sleeping prosthetics – a pair of comically large vaguely paw-shaped pillows that mimicked the other set, but far less likely to bruise if she slapped herself in her sleep. “Bedtime~!” Natalie chimed.

“Goodnight~!” Echelon cheerfully returned, as they hugged... then merged, and dove under the covers for a well earned rest.

...

.....

.......

When Natalie opened her eyes again, what she beheld gave her a start – but she quickly realized she couldn’t move. 

Standing over her was Osoth.

“What the f-” Natalie’s eyes darted this way and that. Then, it occurred to her. “... Oh. Right. The Crown.”

The image of Osoth- this projection of its last wearer, perhaps- examined her claws. “You had to know it would notice that little stunt, didn’t you? Borrowing the power of a god.” 

“I didn’t have a choice- OOFH!!” She wheezed as this nightmare Osoth sat sidelong on her chest with all her mother’s weight. 

“Oh, I don’t think that’s true,” she said with sanguine patience. “I think you like wielding god-like cosmic power. Which is good, because at this rate, it’s coming your way~”

“I’m not-” She struggled to take in a breath, “going to let anybody have it...!”

“Oh???” She seemed amused. “And how will you do that?”

“I’ll... figure out... a way...” Natalie hissed. Her bedroom began to fade, and soon all she could see were stars. Billions and billions of endless, endless giants as specks in the distance of this forever void, swallowing her up.

“Oh, Natalie. If you accept it, you can fix everything!” Osoth grabbed her neck and began driving her thumb into her throat, getting heavier and heavier on her chest, which began to tremble. “But if you resist it...” That face drew closer to hers. “You will break under the weight.”

Tears jerked from the corners of Natalie’s eyes. Her head pounded, her lungs burned. "AAAH!!" she cried as she hit the floor of her bedroom, the fall cushioned only by a stray pile of dirty laundry. She gasped for air, vision swimming, chest aching...

Nothing. It was never there.

Echelon went dry, clutching her own chest. "Guess I don't need to explain why that dream made it through..." 

Natalie's pillow arm flopped on the floor beside her. "... hah... ah... fuck..."

 -
- -
 -