But we didn’t get a chance to talk. At least not right away.
[Power War: Evergreen Burn: Act Three in Progress]
Someone stepped out from behind a tree—a familiar villain in a devil helmet and red cloak. Instead of a sword, though, this woman carried nothing but her fists and her bare feet. She grinned at me, poison in her expression. “Hello, Magical Girl Understudy. The One L told me you’d be around here. You’re in our territory.”
“Let me guess,” I said, squaring up as a dozen henchmen stepped out in similar helmets. “You’re one of the three Vs.”
“For the moment, yes,” she said, grinning. “The second one.”
“And you’re here to propose a Neutral Field and tell me something important, that’ll change how I view your organization?” I asked, hoping she’d say yes.
“No.” She leaped toward me, foot lashing out, and changed it into a knee-thrust as I went to block her kick. Then she followed it up with a blow to my shoulder that sent me flying.
[HP 4/8]
I caught myself mid-air with [Solar Wing], hovering over the villain. Then I fired a [Starlance] her way, but she backflipped over it, and it slammed into a henchman. “Fursona, if you’re here, I could use your help!” I said into the mic, trying to keep my cool as I weaved past the trees, sending freshly fallen leaves whirling behind me.
[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point]
The first gun went off a moment later, and Su-Bin’s scream followed almost immediately. I heard the bullet whistle past my head and breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t aimed at her. A moment later, my vision went red. These assholes were shooting with my friend right there!
I shot back, spraying a [Bit-Part Barrage] into the crowded henches after making sure Su-Bin was clear. The beams crashed into henches, sending them flying; they sprawled across the dying grass and crunched into leaves.
[Dramatic Damage! +4 Drama Points]
I didn’t care that I’d knocked four henches out of the fighting. As far as I was concerned, the fight wasn’t over until Su-Bin was safe. So, spinning in mid-air and braking in the air, I fired a single [Starlance] straight up to signal to Fursona where I was—the Broken Comms plan—and then called in again. “Park west of City Hall. Hurry. 3V1L’s here!”
I flew backward, gaining some distance and trying to draw The Second V’s attention away from her, but to my horror, the other henches turned at her shouted command and chased after APPEAL’s president while she squared up on the ground and balled her fists. “Not sure why you’re protecting her, but we’ll take whatever advantages we can get,” The Second V said.
I fired another [Starlance] her way, but she ducked under it easily, the pinkish spear fizzling out harmlessly against a massive old oak. “Nice try, Understudy. What’s your cooldown? Two seconds? That’s a second too long, and you used your barrage already.”
“Dammit! It’s a power? Of course it’s a power,” I complained. “Why are you here?”
“Two reasons, and The One L gave me permission to share them both,” The Second V said. She punched toward me, the air splitting around her fist, and I dove wildly for the ground as a shockwave blew through the air I’d been hovering in a moment before. “First, you’re in future 3V1L territory. We weren’t here for you originally. We were here for Acid Burn.”
I fired one more [Starlance], this time at the swarm of henches, but even though it knocked one across the park, the others kept up their pursuit, gaining on Su-Bin, who was running for all she was worth. “And the other reason?” I asked, shifting to try to keep the henches in range.
[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point]
“Once we realized you were here, taking over Evergreen became secondary,” she said, grinning. “So now we’re here for you.”
“Well, here I am!” I dove toward her, activating [Power-Weaving] and [Quick-Time Change] to become Copy Cat. Tails and I merged seamlessly in mid-air, our minds becoming one and her plushie claws stiffening into real ones on my hands and feet.
[Flashy Fitting-Room! +1 Flamboyance Point]
[Steel Yourself! +1 Grit Point]
[Floating Points: 1 Flamboyance]
Then my fall turned into a graceful pounce as I used [Leaping Leopards] to launch myself right at The Second V, who blocked my outstretched paws with her crossed arms.
[Badass Damage! +1 Badass Point]
[Floating Points: 3 Flamboyance, 1 Grit]
Then, as I started activating [Hometown Heroine] to complete my combo and get a massive speed buff, The Second V ducked in close and punched me in the nose.
[Combo Broken! Floating Points Lost. Power Lost]
She laughed and pressed her attack as we exchanged blows back and forth, with her blocking my scratches and me taking her brutal punches with [Fursonal Furcefield]. Fists, paws, and feet flew briefly before we both backed away, panting.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
[Badass Damage! +1 Badass Point]
[Tough Kitty! +1 Grit Point]
[HP 3/8]
[Badass Damage! +1 Badass Point]
[Badass Damage! +1 Badass Point]
[HP 2/8]
I’d done more damage to her than she had to me; scratches covered her red outfit, and I’d knicked one of her horns badly enough to spin it so it faced backward. But I also couldn’t take as much. With my superhero damage low, even a positive trade could be trouble.
Then she activated [Power-Chaining] and ducked right back into the fighting.
[Fursonal Furcefield] took the first blow as I tried to find a way to disrupt her—but without [Combo-Breaker], I didn’t have anything for this situation. Fursona had always taken care of me! I’d never had to worry about combos, to the point where I hadn’t even noticed other supers using them.
[Tough Kitty! +1 Grit Point]
She pressed her attack even as I [Doom Balled], scratching into her cloak and leaving thin, bloody lines across her back and right arm.
[Badass Damage! +4 Badass Points]
[HP 1/8]
I needed Fursona here, and I needed her here now. Otherwise, The Second V was going to combo off, and I doubted [Fursonal Furcefield] would hold. Her next punch bounced off Tails, who, as always, was my protection in the bruiser Copy Cat Costume.
[Tough Kitty! +1 Grit Point]
Then, grinning in triumph, The Second V reeled back a fist that seemed to grow bigger with each moment. It swung forward—
—and slammed into a wall of feathers that exploded in a puff of plumage. Fursona rolled across the leaves, then grinned up at me, her beak shattered so I could see her goofy smile. “Hi. Made it!”
“You sure did,” I said, and used [Cat-Scratch Fever] to slap the stunned-looking Second V.
[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point]
She blinked, then blinked again, looking confused, almost as if she couldn’t figure out what had happened. I stared at her, ready to dodge, but she whirled and started fleeing, one hand in front of her to find the trees as her eyes swelled up. I watched her go for a moment, then turned to Fursona. “Hey, thanks. You really bailed meow’t there.” I flushed as I said it, hoping the fur would catch most of it.
“What?”
“I, uh, said you really bailed me out there.”
“Sure.” She grabbed my wrist and pulled herself to her feet, looking at a lopsided wing mournfully. “I don’t think I’m flying like this, though.”
“Okay. We’ll go on foot. The 3V1L henches went that way,” I pointed and started walking. “You good?”
“Yeah, I’m good. They got Su-Bin?”
“Yep.” I took the time to shift into Rainy Day—the perfect Costume to go into a firefight with 3V1L’s henchmen with—and then kept jogging toward the last place I’d seen them.
We didn’t have to search for long.
◄▼►
Honestly, we barely had to search at all.
Su-Bin’s screaming and shouting guided us toward her before we’d crossed half the park. She was howling up a storm, saying, “You’re all traitors, you know that? You’re repressing other regular people in the name of some aliens and the supers who work for them! You’re symptoms of the crime that’s grabbed all of Tokyex—“
Someone cut her off before she could yell too much more, thankfully. I needed to have my chat with her, but not as a yelled, screaming conversation with half of Evergreen listening. We approached the public restroom, half-expecting the 3V1L henchmen to be hunkered down inside. After some quiet planning, I went left, and Fursona went around the right side.
We ran right into the henches.
They’d made a perimeter, staying spread out far enough that I couldn’t catch them all in a single power; clearly, they’d learned something from our earlier encounters. There were eight in all, and two had a kicking, flailing Su-Bin. She might have been short, but she packed a punch. They started yelling as I ducked behind a tree, and the first pistol shot went off. “Hey! Come out, hands up! Otherwise—oof!”
I spun around the corner as Fursona slammed into the henches, already using my first power—[Wind Front]—to break up their perimeter. It slammed into several goons, bowling them over before losing steam and ruffling Su-Bin’s hair.
[Badass Move! +1 Badass Point]
I dashed into the gap as pistols popped and bullets ricocheted off trees and concrete. I didn’t have much time; one or two bullets would take me out of the fight. So, instead of setting up a combo, I just [Rode the Lightning] and sent electricity surging toward the nearest henchman. The tendrils tossed him aside and onto the ground.
[Electric Lightshow! +1 Flamboyance Point]
Fursona was slamming henches around, and as I watched, she reached Su-Bin’s guards. She screeched one off the president in distress, then clawed at the other as Su-Bin punched him in the face. He let go, surprised, and threw his hands up.
And that was all the opportunity Su-Bin needed.
She was up and running a moment later, and I used [Wind Front] one more time to knock over a pursuing hench. Then I nodded at Fursona. “You’ve got this?”
[Badass Move! +1 Badass Point]
“Yeah, I’ve got this!”
She looked like she had it, so I [Quick-Time Changed] into Understudy for the heal, fired a [Starlance] at a hench with a pistol just before she could fire it, and leaped into the air with [Solar Wing]. The lance hit the hench, toppling her to the ground and knocking the pistol away.
[Flashy Fitting-Room! +1 Flamboyance Point]
[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point]
[Rejuvenation Activated: HP 5/8]
Then I was in pursuit of Su-Bin. Fursona could handle the few remaining henches herself.
I landed at the park’s edge and sat down on a bench, waiting. She’d seen me fly over, and she had to know I was at the only exit to the park on this side, so it was only a matter of time before she showed up. I’d just sit, wait, and think about what I’d say to her.
What was the best thing to say to her?
I had no idea. I wanted to mention something about her family and what they’d been through—their forced move out of Seoul, the house in Thornton and the Bear Lord, and then the apartment they lived in now. I wanted to tell her that it wasn’t my fault that’d happened. I needed to shake her silly and explain how stupid all this was—that we were all just trying to make it through the day with whatever cards fate, the Style System, or whatever had dealt us.
But the reality on the ground was that President Pak wouldn’t listen to any of those arguments—and one of them would probably out me as Anika DuPont to someone who absolutely couldn’t be allowed to know. So, as Su-Bin rounded the corner, saw me sitting there, and froze, I stood up and waved. “Hello!”
She glared and started stalking toward the entrance, clearly ready to ignore me completely. I wasn’t about to let that happen, though, so I took two steps and blocked her path. Her eyes narrowed even more, and I realized that any conversation I could have with her wouldn’t matter.
But the camera drone hovering overhead reminded me that maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t actually talking to the president of the TU APPEAL chapter. Instead, I was talking to everyone watching, and she happened to be a surrogate for them. So I cleared my throat. “President Pak, we need to talk.”