[The Last Power War: Act Three in Progress]
The second the door opened, I slipped through it and into a scene of utter devastation.
Robot parts and Theseus’s arms lay everywhere, along with a thin layer of Kaiju-colored fur that blanketed the ground. Lady Lockless leaned against the ship’s bulkhead, breathing heavily as the door closed behind me and rubbing her shoulder. Other than that she looked fine.
Theseus didn’t look quite as fine. He was down to four arms on his left shoulder, one on his right, and a tripod of beaten, bent legs holding him up. When I stared at him, he laughed and raised his right arm. It bent, screeching as it gave out. “Could you give me a hand? I’m out of rearming drones.”
“You need to wait,” Bee interrupted. She was halfway into her kangaroo suit; the Kaiju-Sona fursuit was completely out of commission. Pataki could probably fix it, but without the Ilneat’s help, it’d be a while before Bee went Full Kaiju again. She half-hopped to me and wrapped me in a gigantic hug. “You made it.”
“Of course I made it,” I said nonchalantly. Then I kissed her. It wasn’t a big, romantic kiss. There wasn’t time for that. But I needed it—bad. And so did she, by how insistently she returned it. I pulled back way too soon, but we were still mid-Episode, and we needed to focus. “What happened here?”
“Your girlfriend went turbo-lizard, and Theseus buzzsawed the survivors,” Lady Lockless said. She pressed her hand to the door’s control, and a second later, every light went red. “That’s not opening until I give it permission.”
“So, what’s left?” I asked, disengaging from the hug and slow-transforming into Rainy Day.
“Not much. We had a leg up on the bots—choke points, superior firepower, and better powers. Whatever Rocko designed, we think he threw everything he had at us,” Theseus said. “But we handled it.”
While I finished the transformation, Fursona finished gearing up, and Lady Lockless removed Theseus’s broken arm and replaced it with one of his less-damaged left arms. He wiggled it around. “Ugh, it’s backwards. That’s going to take some getting used to.”
A pair of [Virga] uses later, we were in as good a shape as we were going to get. Fursona took point, and we followed, pushing down the chrome-and-glass hallway toward what—we hoped—was the bridge. Or wherever Rocko was.
[Medic! +8 Cunning Points]
[HP 7/15]
The halls were quiet. Nothing moved; Theseus was right; they’d destroyed almost every bot on the ship—at least on this side of the airlock. And with Lady Lockless’s power, the ones on the far side couldn’t get to us. Here and there, an Ilneat stared at us from inside a locked door, peering through the windows with wide, black eyes. They looked curious, not angry or scared.
We ignored them for now. Only one Ilneat mattered: the one in charge.
Locked doors weren’t a problem. Lady Lockless navigated them within seconds, and between the three of us, the occasional stray bot went down too fast to do much damage. By the time we reached what had to be the fancy executive wing of the ship, we were practically sprinting.
As we sped around a corner, a pure white [Moonbeam] fired into Fursona, throwing her against the wall. Two Magical Girl bots flanked a closed and locked door, staves ready to use their powers again. I used [Limelight Barrage] to pin one down long enough for Fursona to land a brutal [Double-Kick].
[Dramatic Damage! +5 Drama Points]
As the two of us hammered away at her steel armor, the other danced away from Theseus and fired a beam his way. Another arm hit the deck, thrashing and sparking. His last laser arm activated, and a moment later, one of her arms was off.
Fursona had her hands full with the first bot, and I couldn’t get a clean shot on either of the two without hurting my friends. Beams and laser blasts surged every which way, and I ducked around the corner a second too late. A ray of moonlight sliced across me and knocked me to the ground.
[HP 4/15]
But the robo-girls couldn’t cover us all. Lady Lockless pressed her hand to the door. It popped open, and there, smoking four cigars, fur sticking every which way, and tie hanging loosely from their neck, sat Rocko.
I [Quick-Time Changed] into Copy Cat, ducked through the frozen fight, and used [Pouncing Panthers] to get right next to the alien executive. Then I extended my claws. “Stand them down, Rocko!”
[Flashy Fitting-Room! +1 Flamboyance Point]
[Steel Yourself! +1 Grit Point]
[Badass Move! +1 Badass Point]
----------------------------------------
Rocko didn’t stand them down.
Instead, a forcefield shimmered into existence, throwing me out of the door. Behind me, one of the bots exploded as Fursona tore it limb from limb. But the fighting didn’t matter. Only one thing mattered.
The smug grin on Rocko’s face.
“DuPont, you’re acting like an idiot,” they said as I picked myself up and glared at the shining barrier. “You can’t get through this with any of your powers, and it’s only a matter of time until more hero bots get here. But I’m willing to make a deal here. Three percent. Take out Brown and Fitch, and convince Marino to cooperate. Easy.”
I slammed into the barrier with a [Pouncing Panthers]. It didn’t hurt. It was more like landing in Jell-O. But I couldn’t get to Rocko—not like that. And if I couldn’t get to them, and they weren’t bluffing about the other bots…
Were they bluffing? It was getting hard to tell through the smoke filling up their office.
“I just told you, DuPont, you can’t get to me. Now, listen. I’ve always had your best interests in mind. Every scrap of power Pataki and I scrounged up for you, every rule we bent for that death-defying Costume, every theft we committed? They were all for you, kiddo. Not us. You. You’re our golden…well, that’s a bad comparison. You’re an investment, and you’ve paid off so well.”
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“That’s why you threw me out of the airlock?” I asked. Something inside of me felt cold. No, not cold. My heart felt frozen.
“Showbiz, just showbiz!” Rocko said, their grasping hands waving cigars in the air. “You needed a moment alone in the spotlight. I got that for you. It was all about setting you up for success, and you should see what it did to the ratings!”
They touched one of the three screens hanging behind their head. A moment later, it enlarged until I could see it clearly, even through the shining barrier between us. I didn’t have a degree in economics, but the general idea was pretty clear. This Episode was popular.
Really popular.
That sickened me, and my cheeks burned. Everything we did played into Rocko’s hands somehow. They’d had years to watch me, over a year to figure out Bee—they’d probably even predicted this. I wanted to break through that shield and tear them apart. I wanted to end this.
But even as the heat rose in my throat, my heart was still ice-cold. And the cold was winning.
“Listen up, now. Marino? She’s near her cap. There’s not much further we can push her. She’ll be in the top ten—not counting the meta-powereds. But you? Your potential is almost limitless. You’re a number-one-caliber hero. Always have been. I saw it when you were just a kid. That’s why I invested in you for so long.” Rocko smiled and put out one of their cigars.
“Now, you want Stella-Lunar’s power set? We can do that. Dr. Jackson’s? Tricky, but doable. The Agent? Why not? Just say the word and take out Brown and Fitch.”
“No.” The cold place in my heart had solidified. It felt like a diamond, not ice, and it had pushed the angry heat back to almost nothing. Rocko was playing with me. They thought they were in control of this whole scene. But if they were right, and I was a number-one-caliber hero with no limits, then I had to have a Costume for this. Right? I just needed to think through it.
“No? Alright, how about this? I’ve got another dozen bots on the way. You just sit back and watch. Don’t need to raise a hand to help them, they’ll take care of the other three. Then it won’t be on you. We can get back to negotiations once they’re taken care of. Oh, and I’ll throw five percent your way for your trouble. It’s a better deal than any super’s ever gotten. What do you say to that?”
There was only one answer.
----------------------------------------
I was halfway through my transformation sequence when the first explosion filled the air behind me. Every turn, every musical trill, I’d tried to lock eyes with Rocko—to keep them focused on my face, not on the Costume I was transforming into.
So far, it had worked. But as the second bot exploded, Rocko’s eyes glanced across the Costume piecing itself together over my glowing body.
A pink T-shirt, ripped jeans, and tennis shoes. A puffer jacket. And nothing else. No sign that I was Magical Girl Understudy, except for the plushie, two-tailed cat in my arms.
The music stopped.
I dropped Tails to the floor. She bounced, then flopped over, the system not powering her anymore. But her star-button eyes were locked on Rocko.
The reason the Hot Zone’s shield worked…what Rocko had said about my powers not being able to hurt them…it all made sense.
I stepped toward the Jell-O-esque forcefield. If I was right about what they’d said, none of my powers could get through. So I’d dropped my powers. They wouldn’t hurt the Ilneat anyway.
“DuPont, listen up. That’s not going to work. The force field’s designed to keep supers out; I tested it myself, on the bots and with The Agent’s Temp Heroes. You can’t hurt me. Now sit down, let the inevitable happen, and we’ll talk. Seven percent, no oversight, no comms in-Episode.”
People who’d outplayed their enemies didn’t need to negotiate. The Agent never had, and we hadn’t once we’d won. One offer, then business. If Rocko really thought they were winning, they’d…do what they always did. Make me do what they wanted with wordplay and by keeping me ignorant.
They weren’t doing that. My eyes narrowed, and I lunged toward the gorilla/otter alien.
The Jell-O resisted for a second. Then, slowly, I started pushing through it. Behind me, the sounds of fire and fighting grew muffled.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a second! DuPont, you don’t know what you’re doing. The whole Greater Ilneat Prosperity Community’s going to be after you. ProsComm’s not gonna be happy. So how about you spare everyone on Earth and settle down, huh?”
They were lying. ProsComm wasn’t coming. The Agent had told us they were sitting this one out.
Everything inside me felt cold. The icy diamond crystal was growing, and it couldn’t be stopped. Neither could I; my arm broke through the force field, and I grabbed Rocko by the collar. This close, they were so small. “I don’t want your money, and I don’t care about your threats. I want you all gone.”
Both the Ilneat’s squeezing hands reached for my arm, grabbing and twisting as cigar ashes covered their office’s floor. My other arm broke through, and a moment later, so did the rest of me. But even then, Rocko wouldn’t. Stop. Talking. They leaned in close, close enough to smell the smoke on their breath. “Well, that’s not going to happen, DuPont. Listen up. I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to you, including your stupid girlfriend back there.”
My other hand slammed into Rocko’s face, palm open. A tooth—wide and sharp like a gorilla’s—flew out of their mouth, and their narrow black eyes went wide. For a second, in the hot, smoke-filled office, everything was quiet. Not silent—I could hear Bee, Theseus, and Lady Lockless fighting hard behind me.
But I could only do one thing to help them. I raised my hand again, and this time, I balled it into a fist. “Stand. Your bots. Down. Give up, and we’ll get in touch with ProsComm so they can take you away. That’s the only deal I’ll accept. Think fast.”
Rocko froze, their grasping hand touching their cheek gingerly. I reeled my fist back.
Then, with a shaking grasping hand, Rocko slowly pressed a button. The fighting outside tapered off as the bots stopped moving. The Ilneat’s squeezing hands let go of my arm, and all four of their hands rose, their last cigar ashing onto the carpet. “Fine, DuPont. You win.”
[Episode Finished!]
[Episode: Power War: The Battle of Mid-Town - R]
[Penalties: 0x Rating Warnings - No Penalty]
[Episode Finished! +3 of each Style Point]
[Series Finished! +10 of each Style Point]
[Winner, Winner! +3 of each Style Point]
[Role Focus: Drama + Cunning - Goal Met: +10 to Focused Styles]
[Alias - Understudy] [Archetype - Magical Girl] [Community Rank - 3/523]
[HP 4/15]
[Styles and Skills]
►Archetype Skill - Transformation Sequence
►Combo Skills - Power-Weaving
►Badass (49)
►Cunning (70) (Skill Roll Available)
►Drama (105) (Skill Rolls Available)
► Limelight Barrage 2
► Starlance 2
►Flamboyance (47)
►Signature Skill - Adaptive Armoire 3
►Stored Costumes: (Rainy Day, Copy Cat, Lab Assistant Panic, Lucky Star, Shock and Awe)
►Solar Wing 2
► Quick-Time Change 3
► Improvised Ovation 1
►Grit (53) (Skill Roll Available)
► Freeze Frame 2
[50 Cunning Credits Used. Rolling Skill!]
[50 Drama Credits Used. Rolling Skill!]
[50 Drama Credits Used. Rolling Skill!]
[50 Grit Credits Used. Rolling Skill!]
[Skill Upgrade! Virga > Misty Downpour: A healing rain that sticks around for up to a minute.]
[Skill Upgrade! Limelight Barrage > Spotlight Surge: A single beam of energy instantly hits the target area, with no time to dodge the spotlight!]
[Skill Upgrade! Starlance > Maximum Starlance: The big one. Increased damage, tracking, and speed!]
[Skill Upgrade! Rejuvenation > Trance Heal: A large baseline heal, then more as long as you avoid taking damage!]