As the minutes passed, my fingers started hurting from being clenched into fists. We still had almost an hour before the assault on the Hot Zone started and nearly an hour and a half before Tokyexico’s wave went in. I couldn’t stop pacing, though, feeling like a trapped tiger in the Green Room.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. “We should go after her. Screw Mrs. N! Screw The Agent. We need to do something about this!”
Bianca looked up for the Kaiju-Sona fursuit she was fixing up in the conversation pit. Her hand held a needle; she’d amateurishly stitched up a gash in the side, making it look like a battle scar instead of torn plush. “Do you think this makes me look more badass?” She asked.
“You’re worried about that right now? What the hell, Bee?”
She held up her hands like she was trying to calm me down. “Annie, we could get out there and look for Kaiju Kid. It’d be the right thing to do in the immediate term, and it’d make us both feel better. I hate this, too. The Agent’s pulling at our heartstrings, and it’s only dumb luck that he didn’t make a play for The Cloud, or you’d be dragging me out the door, huh?”
I nodded, throat tight and seeing red. “I’d kill him.”
“I thought so. But we have another job to do. Too much is riding on us getting into the Hot Zone and capturing Rocko, or Pataki, or any other Ilneats we can find. Mrs. N is capable, powerful, and resourceful, and I trust Honeycomb to give it her all. They’ll find Kaiju Kid. So, let’s focus on the job at hand.”
“But—“
Before I could get a thought out, Bee interrupted me, handing me my phone. “You’re not going to listen to me. I can tell. Call your mom and ask her what to do.”
That…sounded surprisingly reasonable. I hated that it did—I wanted to scream and cry and go fight a supervillain—but Mom probably had insights that Bee didn’t. She was someone I could confide in and ask for advice. More importantly, Dad would be at work, and Bee had known it. That left Mom.
I snatched the phone away from my girlfriend, who shook her head and went back to her crude stitch job as I fled the Green Room.
By the time I collapsed on our bed, staring out the window at the glistening snow that covered Tokyexico University’s grounds, I’d calmed down a little. Bee was probably right. We couldn’t add much to Mrs. N’s search; despite my desire to build a bunch of great, focused Costumes, I didn’t have anything that would excel at this kind of job, and we had no leads. It’d take us more than an hour to figure this out. The best thing I could do was play my part.
But I dialed Mom’s number anyway. As the phone rang and rang, I thought about what I’d say. Then, Mom picked up. “Hello, Anika. It’s been a while.”
“I’ve been, uh, busy,” I said, voice cracking a little. Then, all of a sudden, I was crying. “Can we just talk about how things have been at home?”
“Sure,” Mom said awkwardly. “Riverside’s about the same as it ever was. Your ex was up to his usual stuff, but he’s disappeared since that book came out. I read it, and I think Golden Goose saw the same side of the Ilneats that I did.”
“Something else, Mom.”
“Ah.” Mom’s voice softened. “No shop talk, huh? Okay. Dad’s been busy with work. They’re building a new stadium in SeaTac, and the company’s handling the drill construction for foundation pilings or something.” She launched into a catch-up routine, something we’d done a dozen times before. What the neighbors were up to, how her struggle to quit smoking was going, that three girls had quit the diner in the last month, and she was working overtime again.
Then, she asked me how classes were going.
“I’m thinking about dropping out,” I said suddenly. It was the first time I’d thought about it, but the moment it popped into my head, it made complete sense. It really did.
Mom’s shocked voice punched a hole in the conversation. “No. You can’t.”
“Why not? It’s all over, anyway. I haven’t been to classes in over a week, even the professors aren’t showing up, and if we win, the degree’s useless. You know which side I’m on, right?” I flopped onto the bed dramatically.
“Yes, I’m aware of which side my daughter’s chosen in the most important Power War we’ve ever had.” Mom’s voice had gone icy and cutting, and I winced. “I’m also aware that you’ve invested a year and a half of your life into this program and that even if you don’t use the degree, it’ll help you. So, I’m saying no. I’m saying that if you drop out when you’re this close, I won’t help you find a job back in Riverside.”
“You’ll cut me off?”
“No. But I won’t let you fail when you’re this close to something you’ve wanted. So, take the fight to them, win your war, and then get your butt back in class, Anika.” I winced again as she said my name. “I’ll let it slide until you win or lose, but you’d better pass your classes.”
“I will, Mom,” I said, even though I had no idea how I’d do that. Then I took a deep breath. Okay. Classes. Last I’d seen, we were studying public relations and social media stuff.”
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“That sounds fascinating,” Mom said. I wasn’t sure how honest she was being, but she still let me talk and talk about everything I’d been learning before the shit hit the fan.
At last, Bee cleared her throat from the door. “Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time.”
I looked at the clock. “It sure is. Sorry, Mom, but I have to go. Love you!”
“Love you too, Annie,” Mom said, and the phone went dead.
----------------------------------------
I’d decided on something dumb for this fight.
Choral music filled the Green Room, but I’d committed myself to this Costume—the classic Magical Girl Understudy from Small Town Super, not the fast, sleek one from Heroics 101. My body glowed brighter and brighter as I went through the dance steps, Tails weaving her way through my feet. White thigh-highs sprang up my legs, and elbow-length gloves materialized over my hands.
If I was against Rocko here, I wasn’t wearing the costume that had made their show such a success. I was going back to my roots.
When the music finally faded, and my boots touched down on the Green Room’s floor next to the computer monitors, I had poofy off-shoulder sleeves, a ridiculous pink bow on my chest, and star-shaped pupils—just like when I’d first put on the Costume. The lights cut off, and everything went quiet.
I was ready. Almost.
“Don’t fear, Magical Girl Understudy is here! I swear to defend the weak against evil, and to uphold truth and love!”
“Alright, alright, let’s go,” Kaiju-Sona said from behind me, and I jumped a little. I’d thought I was alone. “It’s a cute Costume, but I’ll miss the new one.”
“It’s just this once,” I said. Was it a lie? I didn’t know; only time would tell. Flushing red, I summoned my sailboard with [Solar Wing], and with Fursona in front of me, we set off for the Tokyexico Council of Heroes Building—and for the Hot Zone that awaited us through the locked door.
----------------------------------------
In the end, after waiting with the rest of the minor leaguers stacked up in the Council room for something to happen, the beginning of the end happened with a whimper, not a bang.
Warp Tennyson landed next to the door—an unassuming metal one in the wall behind where Crossbow-bot had held his court until last week. With him, he’d brought a tired-looking junior who leaned on her cane. “Okay, last one, Miss Lockless,” he said.
“Great. Then we can sit down for a minute, right?”
“Right.” The teleporter looked at us. “Okay, good news and bad news. The good news is both the Yorkston and Tortuga West attacks hit major-league resistance right away. We’re getting our asses kicked out there, and every super we have is getting sent to Yorkston—Florida Man is on his own down there. We’ve counted almost all the major league threats on those two fronts, though. The bad news is that there are no reserves for you. You either make it in, retreat out, or lose.
“Mindstorm wanted me to tell you to move fast, hit hard, and don’t be afraid to sucker-punch pro-galaxy supers to win fights. We’re playing for keeps. You ready?”
One by one, we nodded. The Magical Girl squad. A few mixed members of TUSSA and the SSS. Gourmet, The Crumb, and Theseus. And, of course, Fursona and me. The only real firepower we had, and even that was pretty limited.
“Okay, Miss Lockless, open the door.”
She nodded, tapped its handle with her cane, and pulled it open without a problem. A rush of hot air blew out, whipping her hair back, and she stepped out of the way. “It’s all you now. Signal Dr. Tennyson if you have a problem in there, or if you need my help.”
We rushed through into the Hot Zone.
[Casting Call]
[Episode: Power War: In Hot Water - R]
[Role: Invader of Aliens! Do you accept the role? (Yes/No)]
[Role Focus: Drama + Grit]
[In Hot Water: Act One in Progress]
I’d been here before. But it had always been in Rocko’s studio, not outside. The wind blew hard, howling between tall buildings and down empty streets. It felt like stepping out of February in Tokyexico and into July west of Riverside. Nothing grew in the concrete planters that lined the road in front of us. Everything was barren, gray, and hostile.
This wasn’t how it had looked from Rocko’s studio or the Council of Heroes building. This wasn’t how it had looked at all.
A beam of energy rocketed toward me, and I dodged to the left. As I did, I watched a figure duck behind the pillars outside one of the warehouse-looking buildings across the street. “We’ve got someone!” I shouted.
The street erupted in fire. Beams crisscrossed it from both sides, hitting us as we scattered toward the nearest cover. I saw a familiar-looking helmet—devil horns, an exposed chin, and a red cape—and fired a [Starlance] toward the V.
[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point]
I didn’t have time to see what damage it had done. Vs were pouring out of the buildings; there had to be twenty—no, thirty—of them. Fursona rushed forward, breathing fire into the horde of 3V1L henches-turned-supervillains. They scattered like pinballs, running from her, but when she turned away, they attacked from behind.
Theseus slammed into them, metal tentacles flailing and harpoons firing. “I’ve gotta hand it to them, they really rolled out the welcome wagon!”
“God dammit shut up,” Fursona said through my earpiece. I could hear how hard she had her teeth gritted; it sounded painful. Another V leaped toward her, battle-axes in hand, and I blasted him out of the air with a [Starlance] before he could make contact.
[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point]
The battle raged all around us, but one thing was clear: The Agent hadn’t fixed his problem with having too many temp supers simultaneously. Sure, the Vs were tougher than a regular hench. And yeah, they had powers. I’d lost a couple of superhero damage when the fighting finally slowed. But fighting twenty of them wasn’t anywhere near as tough as fighting three.
Candi Crush’s mace slammed into the stomach of a V who looked an awful lot like Flare, and she left it planted there until he surrendered, wriggling on the ground. Then she stretched as her hound tackled the last V. “That felt easy.”
“Check the buildings. Find anyone you can and get moving,” I said, feeling villainous about ordering a mass kidnapping. Ilneat-napping. Whatever. I ordered it. Within a few seconds, the other PEL supers had disappeared, spreading out and rushing for the studio buildings. Once they’d left, I nodded to Fursona. “Okay. Time to find Rocko. Or The Agent. Either is fine.”
Something landed in the street behind us before she could say anything, and I whirled. Stella-Lunar stood in her Sun form, arms cradling something. “Magical Girl Understudy, I’m giving you and your scaley friend one chance to surrender. After that, the kid gloves come off.”
I squinted under my domino mask. What did she have? Then she started walking toward me, one hand holding a squirming, wriggling kid in a dinosaur costume. The other fished out a Jolly Rancher from her pocket and started unwrapping it.
She had Kaiju Kid!