The whole damn thing annoyed me, to be honest. The alligator pit, the device that wouldn’t let me switch off Lab Assistant Panic, and the laser wall, for starters. That all seemed really over the top, even by minor league standards. There had to be a better way to contain an early minor league hero, and a Genius like Sister Sly could certainly discover it, right?

But even more than that, this whole Episode felt weird.

The setup didn’t make sense. Was Sister Sly making a power play last night, trying to frame 3V1L like the Third V had said? Or was it all a trap for us? With Power War Three on the horizon, were they clearing the battlefield for their power struggle or getting started early? That made more sense, honestly, except for one thing that kept bouncing around in my head. I tried to get rid of it as Sister Sly’s monk-robed henches disappeared into the old, abandoned church, but I couldn’t.

This wasn’t about 3V1L and Sister Sly. It was about Fursona.

Why? She was a sidekick, not a hero. She’d been doing this for a year, and yeah, she’d had a meteoric rise—minor leagues in one year was no joke! But…all this maneuvering and manipulation to beat her made no sense. Sister Sly had issues.

Still, it was up to her now. I couldn’t do anything until Sister Sly made a mistake or Fursona created an opportunity. So, instead of stressing too much about the impending fursuit fight, I concentrated on preventing a villainous breakdown.

Secured to the chair, it wasn’t hard.

[The Root of All 3V1L: Act Three in Progress]

Sister Sly braced herself, reaching into her bag, but nothing crashed through the stained glass windows, and the door didn’t burst in under Fursona’s assault. The villain’s brow wrinkled, and then she glared at the back door and shouted, “Henches! Check the back! Report in—don’t fight her if she’s there!”

A pair of monks headed back, carrying gizmos and silvery bombs, and Sister Sly turned to me, a remote in hand. “As for you…I think we’ll start the process early. Fursona will have to attack soon to—“

CRASH!

WHAM!

Glass shattered around Sister Sly as a gigantic eagle slammed into the fox nun! She rolled, and her hand closed on the remote, pushing a bunch of buttons. The platform my chair was bolted to started lowering toward the Florida Man-Eaters below, and the lasers began closing in. “Fursona! Help!” I shouted.

I wasn’t worried about it. Nope. Not at all. She’d figure out a way to bail me out of my predicament.

Then her talons slashed out and caught Sister Sly on the arm, and the remote went clattering across the room. The two anthropomorphic animals both dove for it, but Fursona’s talons wrapped around the device first. Sister Sly landed on her a second later, scratching and clawing at the eagle costume. I really wished she’d run the kangaroo; Sister Sly’s defenses wouldn’t have had a chance against it.

But she hadn’t, and the fox nun broke free of Fursona’s attempt to pin her. Spinning away, she reached into her bag and pulled out a silvery bomb, much like the ones the henches had taken. It went off with a hissing sound that filled the air with a sulfury smell and a choking yellow cloud.

It wafted over me, and while I coughed, the floor kept lowering toward the alligator pit. I still wasn’t worried, though. I had six feet before I was gator chow and eight before the lasers hit.

“Fursona, hurry!” I screamed, and if a bit of panic got through, sorry. It wasn’t my fault, though. Five and seven. Four and five and a half. Three and—

The floor stopped with a horrible screeching sound. I’d lowered too far; I couldn’t see the battle between Fursona and Sister Sly anymore. And I wasn’t free from the chair, but at least it looked like I’d be late for my date with the Florida Man-Eaters. Where had Sister Sly even sourced those?

The fighting raged, and then, after an eternity of sitting there, twiddling my thumbs and staring at the camera drone while wondering how far my villainous breakdown had progressed, the chair slowly started to rise. Fursona’s eagle head poked over the edge. “Hi, Understudy. Having some trouble there?”

“Yeah! Get me out of here, Fursona.”

“One second. She’s still up, she just dashed into a secret room after I kicked her ass.” Fursona fiddled with the remote, and eventually, the arm-rest cuffs holding me in place released.

I transformed immediately, shifting into Understudy. “Let’s go get her. She’s a Genius, so we can’t let her regroup!”

“On it,” Fursona said. “She went that way.”

We headed into the passage in the church’s wall, which led to an enclosed garden area. Either Sister Sly had let it go feral, or it hadn’t been taken care of the whole time the building was abandoned, because the trees needed trimming, the grass had grown almost knee-high, and weeds choked the sidewalk around a cracked but still-running fountain.

“Think she’s in this mess?” I asked.

Fursona shrugged. “Probably. If not, she’s slipped through a different door.”

A bomb appeared out of thin air, detonating with a familiar hiss and vomiting sulfur clouds into the courtyard. Fursona jumped one way and I leaped the other, then raised my wand. But other than swirling yellow smoke, I couldn’t see anything.

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Then a second bomb went off, and the sulfur burst into flames that disappeared almost as quickly as they’d erupted!

[HP 5/11]

[On Fire! -1 HP every 10 seconds for one minute]

I stopped, dropped, and rolled. Across the courtyard, Fursona’s feathers were ablaze, the flaming eagle screeching as she took flight and then dove. I couldn’t tell what she’d seen, but she hit something before she reached the ground, and both she and whatever it was tumbled away in a flurry of feathers and plush.

Had Sister Sly gone invisible?

[HP 4/11]

The fire kept burning. At this rate, it’d take out my superhero damage buffer before it stopped, and the elementary school stop/drop/roll technique had failed! I watched Fursona and the invisible fox nun grapple with each other, lining up a shop and ignoring the fire for now. Then, when I was pretty sure I wouldn’t hit Fursona, I yelled, “Duck! [Bit-Part Barrage]!” and spun in the air.

The beams sliced across the battlefield, making contact with something as Fursona flapped her burning wings and gained a few feet of altitude, putting her out of my line of fire.

[Dramatic Damage! +X Drama Points]

Plus X? I’d never seen that before. Then again, I’d never attacked an invisible enemy. As the flames spread across my costume, I used [Quick-Time Change] and [I-Frame Transform] to dodge the damage, doing the Itsy Bitsy Spider. The whole courtyard was on fire—weeds burned, smoldering leaves blew in the hot wind, and it was only a matter of time before the church went up in smoke.

“Understudy, can you deal with the fire?” Fursona asked.

I wanted to combo off, but instead, I nodded. “I’ve got a few tools for it! You get Sister Sly!”

She nodded, and I felt a pang of jealousy as she flapped into the air. That was it! I wanted to be fighting the villain, making the decisions—doing things that mattered. Not putting out fires that didn’t threaten anyone. Was this important? Yes. Kind of. But no one was in danger, and Fursona needed help, too.

Another bomb went off, and the flames burned higher. I’d said I’d handle them, even if it delayed the fight’s ending, so I started up a [Power-Weaving] combo. This one, however, was going to be different.

I used [Virga], filling the air with rain that healed Fursona, myself, and Sister Sly equally.

[Medic! +2 Cunning Points]

[HP 5/11]

[Doctors Without Borders! -1 Cunning Point]

The rain falling had two other effects. The first was obvious. As it fell, the flames covering the courtyard started to fade. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

The second, though, was unexpected.

An electric discharge filled the center of the room, near where Fursona was circling, and a shocked-looking Sister Sly flickered into view as her camouflage shorted out. Fursona didn’t waste any time, and neither did I. The eagle dove on the fox, talons outstretched, and drove her into the ground, tearing her habit. A moment later, I followed up with [Ride the Lightning], building up my combo even as the remaining dozen fires fought against the rain and new ones started spreading.

[Electric Lightshow! +1 Flamboyance Point]

[Floating Points: 1 Cunning]

The electricity ripped into the courtyard’s center, slamming into the villainess, but she wasn’t down yet, and my rain clouds were already fading. Fursona screeched, the sonic attack slamming Sister Sly into the ground yet again. The fox reached into her bag, but dealing with her was Fursona’s job, not mine. Like it or not, I was the sidekick on this one.

So, instead of piling into the fight, I used the next part of my combo: [Thunderhead]. Clouds filled the courtyard, static building in the sky.

[Pause for Effect! +1 Drama Point]

[Floating Points: 3 Cunning, 1 Flamboyance]

Then, before Sister Sly could disrupt me, I used [Virga] again.

[Medic! +2 Cunning Points]

[HP 7/11]

[Doctors Without Borders! -1 Cunning Point]

[Power-Weaving! +6 Cunning, 3 Flamboyance, and 1 Drama Point]

This time, the rain felt less like a calm drizzle and more like a hurricane making landfall. It blew in sideways from the storm, dousing the flames almost instantly. The clouds parted a moment before Fursona took off straight up, Sister Sly in her arms, then dove straight down. Bombs went off mid-air, filling the sky with a column of fire. But Fursona was too fast. She outpaced the blaze, which smoked and faded behind her.

Then they slammed into the grass with a sickening crunch.

I rushed over and tore at Sister Sly’s bag, ripping it free from the fox nun. It tumbled to the ground, covering the courtyard in bombs that, thankfully, didn’t detonate. Disarmed and visible, Sister Sly quickly lost to Fursona’s punches, screeches, and claws.

And just like that, the Episode was over.

[Episode Finished!]

[Investigative Episode: The Root of all 3V1L - PG-13]

[Penalties: N/A]

[Episode Finished! +3 of each Style Point]

[Winner Winner! +3 of each Style Point]

[Role Focus: Flamboyance+Badass - Goal Partially Met! +10 to Flamboyance]

[Alias - Understudy] [Archetype - Magical Girl] [Community Rank - 215/523]

[HP 11/11]

[Styles and Skills]

►Archetype Skill - Transformation Sequence

►Combo Skills - Power-Weaving

►Badass (14)

►Cunning (62) (Skill Roll Available)

► Check the Script 1

► Audition Notes 1

►Drama (34)

► Bit-Part Barrage 2

►Flamboyance (67) (Skill Roll Available)

►Signature Skill - Adaptive Armoire 3

►Stored Costumes: (Rainy Day, Copy Cat, Lab Assistant Panic)

►Solar Wing 1

► Quick-Time Change 3

►Grit (45)

► I-Frame Transform 3

[50 Cunning Credits Used. Rolling Skill!]

[50 Flamboyance Credits Used. Rolling Skill!]

The Style System’s letters spun in the familiar slot machine cadence, text falling slowly into place as my two rolls started materializing. But I didn’t have eyes for the process. Instead, I was watching a smoking Fursona talk to the camera drone. And even though I tried to push it down, I couldn’t help but think it should have been me.

She waved at me, and I waved back, but I needed to talk this over with her when we got back to the Green Room. It wasn’t a problem yet, but she needed to know how I felt—what I’d figured out about myself.

[Rank-Up! Virgo 2: Healing Increased on all targets]

[Rank-Up! Ride the Lightning 1: Lightning gains a ranged component, hitting a second target for half damage]

Both rank-ups felt suitable for my second-favorite Costume, though they didn’t fundamentally change either power. It felt like I needed Skill Upgrades to really get power-changing upgrades; otherwise, they just gained a little more firepower or utility. I started walking over to Fursona as the camera drone took off.

“Good job, Understudy. We got her!” Fursona said. Then she yawned loudly enough to be heard over the still-falling rain, the wail of sirens, and the still-smoldering flames. Maybe right now wasn’t the best time to approach things.

Maybe we needed some sleep first.