The diner was busier than it had ever been on any prior visit, but then again, it was a Saturday morning. After the attack the prior day, everyone agreed that they needed to keep up with their training if they wanted to keep ahead of the Sylan strikes. Granted, getting everyone up in time was a herculean effort given how exhausted they were. Not even twelve hours of sleep was enough for Nicole, even if four of those hours were on the couch cuddled up with Grace.
The warmth of human contact had been a most welcome comfort, helping ease away the tension that lingered from everything that had transpired. Rebecca knew she was a Ranger now, which was both a relief and a new source of anxiety. She needed to tell Colin, but wasn’t quite ready. According to Becca he was singing the praises of the Black Ranger and Nicole really didn’t need that kind of hero worship at the moment.
Thankfully Rebecca was willing to keep her mouth shut until the hero worship died down just a bit, for all of their sakes. Nicole just hoped that Becca could prevent Colin from hyperfocusing and writing a lengthy fanfic about his newest hero before it was too late.
Nicole’s everything was sore, and she really wasn’t looking forward to the coming training session. Their group was quick to claim their usual booth in the corner, scooting in together in the circular bench. Gertie moved deftly through the crowd, taking orders and bringing drinks while Sam demonstrated his mastery of the flat top.
There wasn’t much of a rush, as nobody was eager to dive back into training despite how necessary it felt after the close calls they had. Nicole was planning to stick to experimenting with her phasing and how it could be used for movement. It seemed smarter than trying to work on any combat drills, those could wait until after she’d had more time to recover.
“How are you holding up?” Jeff asked. It took Nicole a moment to see it had been directed at Kayla.
“My insides feel like they’ve been hollowed out a bit,” Kayla admitted, tapping her chin for a moment. “Maybe scraped raw is a better term? I definitely overdid it in that fight.”
“Pretty fricking awesome though,” Devon said with a smile.
Kayla looked away from the man, but she was doing a poor job of hiding her own grin.
“Yeah, it kinda was,” Kayla agreed softly.
Gertie brought over their usual morning drinks, passing them around with a deftness that spoke to years of experience. Nicole was quick to take a sip of her usual coffee order, relishing the sweetness. It was touching that Gertie had taken the time to add the sugar herself, and Nicole wasn’t about to make the mistake of adding sugar before tasting it to be safe again.
She’d been rather wired the morning after the highrise fire because of that slip up. Getrie had her pad out fountain pen scratching away as almost everyone said ‘my usual’ and that was it, right up until Nicole’s turn.
“Oats with pear slices and a side of bacon.”
Gertie’s pen paused in its motions. “Changing it up?”
Nicole shrugged. “I need something that won’t hit my stomach as hard today. Biscuits and gravy is a heavy dish.”
“True enough, dearie,” Gertie said with a smile. “I’ll have all that out to you in a jiffy.”
“Fuck, I didn’t even think of that,” Kayla said with a groan. “Oh well, not like we’re going to be doing any of the heavy hitting stuff today anyway.”
“I need to figure out how to swing my axe like it’s a proper weapon,” Grace said, staring into her drink. “I’m basically treating it like a glorified club right now. It almost cost me in that fight…”
A flash of Grace about to be hit crossed Nicole’s mind and she screwed her eyes shut, forcing a deep breath that was more of a shudder. She didn’t know if Grace’s kinetic shield could take it, and didn’t want to find out. Moments like that were why they needed to fully understand their abilities and how to use them, as well as their own limits. It could mean life or death for any one of them.
“Is there a chance of finding a trainer?” Devon asked.
Grace shook her head. “Plenty of sword schools, but not axe stuff. Turns out splitting wood isn’t nearly as useful for combat as the movies would have you believe.”
“Most historical axes aren’t that big either,” Jeff said.
Kayla nudged the man. “Bit of a history buff, are you?”
“I’ve actually practiced HEMA a bit,” Jeff admitted, if a bit bashfully. “Not that it taught me how to jump around with a spear.”
Nicole chuckled. “You could try pole vaulting.”
“Maybe,” Jeff said, laughing. “But I could introduce you to my group, there are a few that like axes among us, they might be able to give you pointers and show you some resources.”
Devon nodded along. “I didn’t stick it out for long, but it’s where I picked up the basics.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Grace said, taking out her phone. “Send me the details and I’ll check it out.”
“Might be a good idea for everyone to find instructors,” Jeff added. “Though I’m not sure who could help Kayla learn to sling vines and harness killer plants.”
“There’s a few comics that could help there,” Grace said.
Kayla’s eyes sparkled with mirth. “Where do you think I got half my ideas?”
Grace and Kayla bumped fists, but Nicole was a bit preoccupied with her own research. Thumbing through her phone, Nicole checked the local results for knife instructors. Her friends would have a harder time finding instructors for their own weapons, but Jeff and Devon were clearly versed in their own chosen implements to some degree. Grace would be stuck watching online tutorials if the HEMA group didn’t work out.
Such training probably wouldn’t help Nicole much, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try it out once she had a bit more experience with a knife. The real trick would be convincing an instructor that she needed to learn to fight with two blades. Not that it shouldn’t be too difficult, she already had some experience with the basics, but online tutorials often allowed bad habits to form. She knew that much from her former gymnastics career.
“Hopefully our enhancements don’t dampen the experience,” Nicole muttered.
The group quieted for a moment as their food was brought out. They dug into their meal, Nicole letting ideas flow through her mind of things she wanted to try out with her abilities. She could phase through objects, but couldn’t leave anything behind when she did. That seemed to be a hard limit, and was probably a safety thing to keep her from getting stuck in a wall.
It was still a limitation, and one she would need to poke and prod to understand it in full. Then there was how her phased state messed with her movement. Physics didn’t fully grasp her when phased and she needed a better understanding of how that worked. Add in how she needed some form of shadow to grasp that state and it could lead to bad situations.
Nicole made a few notes on her phone about one instructor who had a few videos of himself demonstrating some techniques that looked promising while eating her breakfast. The oats were hardly delicious, even with a bit of cinnamon sprinkled on top. Thankfully the bacon was there to save the day.
“Shit,” Kayla hissed, discreetly pointing at the TV, “I think we got off light yesterday.”
Nicole grimaced as she caught sight of the broadcast, a national station showing off a devastated city block as fire crews worked to put out the blaze. The corpse of a mutant was visible under the spotlights as were several Rangers helping sort through the wreckage.
“As you can see, downtown Chicago faced a mutant attack, but thanks to the heroic efforts of the Wind Racer team it was dealt with before the damage could spread beyond the initial incursion site. We take you live to the scene…”
“Looks way worse than our own incursion,” Nicole said.
The reporter on screen showed the carnage in the light of day. The mutant’s body was already hauled off, their rapid decay making removal a top priority. Minneapolis didn’t have a removal service in place just yet, the Feds were dragging their feet, which meant that the mutant had decomposed a fair bit before a private contractor had managed to get it hauled off. The scene would probably take days to clean up fully.
The news station switched to a different feed. The Empire State Building loomed in the distance as the Fire Rescue team were directing people away from the battle where the Subway Rangers faced another mutant in the streets. Carlos stood tall in shining gold, protecting the cordon from any machine attempting to break through to the civilians beyond.
Knowing that Maraline was involved with organizing such attacks disgusted Nicole, but that was her purpose as a Sylan. She was one of their Generals, a leader of their armies. Just because she hadn’t been seen operating in the open didn’t mean she wasn’t active. Passive slaughter was still slaughter, and Nicole was determined to make her answer for everything she’s done.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
They were more than lucky that the damage hadn’t been worse, or that there wasn’t another pile of corpses left in the wake of the Sylan attack. The media wasn’t reporting casualty numbers, always keeping it vague when there were deaths. The news wasn’t outright saying it, but they were speaking highly of the swift response of their own team.
“We need a name,” Jeff said.
Devon grunted, swallowing his food quickly. “Probably. The media loves to name teams and our own theme is a bit on the nose for options.”
“At least we won’t be called the Dice Rangers,” Grace said. “Fuckers would have to see us morph first.”
“Let’s pray that never happens,” Devon said in agreement.
Kayla laughed, almost doubling over at something, but she just held a finger up until she managed to collect herself. Everyone waited, and Nicole managed to finish her meal off while waiting. Finally, she wiped away some moisture from her eyes and sat up.
“We can be the Fellowship of the Rangers!” Kayla said, gasping for breath. Then she mimed holding her staff and brought it down. “Sylans! You shall not pass!”
She actually brought her fist down onto the table with enough force that their plates jumped. Kayla ducked her head almost immediately, her cheeks darkening as she buried her face in her hands. Nicole couldn’t help but chuckle even as Jeff pat the poor woman on the back. Most people seemed to brush the outburst off thankfully.
“Whoops, guess I got a little carried away.”
“A little,” Jeff teased. “Someone should find a video of you slamming your staff and making a meme that says that.”
Kayla perked up, her embarrassment falling away as a huge grin overtook her face. “That would be awesome! You should totally make it!”
It was nice to see the team getting along, having fun despite all the chaos of the prior day. It was a much needed reprieve and one Nicole would enjoy while she still could. Nicole savored the last of her coffee, waving off the offer of a refill as Gertie swooped by. The numbers had thinned a bit but it was still rather crowded and the woman didn’t have the time to stop and be social.
“We should think about heading out,” Grace said, frowning at her phone. “Traffic is gonna be a bitch if we wait much longer.”
“Like it isn’t already,” Kayla grumbled. “And here I am stuck driving.”
Jeff patted her on the back. “You’re the one with the van that insisted on giving us all a lift to help save the environment.”
“Yeah, but that’s kinda moot with the Sylan out and about,” Kayla said with a wave of her hand. Nicole thought she saw something cross the woman’s face but couldn’t quite tell what it was. “Still, I have a van and it has plenty of space, so why not use it?”
“Can’t argue there,” Devon said.
Jeff nodded along. “To the park?”
“To the park,” Nicole agreed, dropping a ten on the table.
Everyone followed her example, setting various bills down to cover their meals and a small tip that when added together would be something decent. Just because Nicole had never worked a service job didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the work they did.
That didn’t change how rapidly dwindling her own funds currently were. At least she still had money already set aside for her college dorm and tuition. It was getting bad enough that she actually considered dropping out a few times, using that money to get a home and try to find a job instead, but it felt like she would be letting down her parents if she did.
More so, she would be letting down Becca.
She would need to make a withdrawal from the insurance payout to make it until her next assistance check at the rate she was going. At least she didn’t have to worry about gas for her bike given how often she and Grace carpooled everywhere.
Add in her inhuman running speeds and it might just be time to sell it, save on the insurance if nothing else. At the same time, getting a job with the fire department was becoming more appealing the longer she thought about it. It would be a ready source of income for something she was already doing.
It would mean outing herself to Chief Grayson, but the man didn’t seem like the type to use that against her. She’d feel things out first, but it was too appealing to just discard the idea outright, not with how low her bank account currently sat.
Kayla’s van was parked out front of the diner, the sight of it rather surprising for someone that didn’t have a residence in the city at the time of the attack. She’d only been visiting for the Renfaire, yet her being chosen as a Ranger meant she was planning to stay. She now had an apartment in Maple Grove and a vehicle chosen specifically to help transport the team.
Nicole tried not to be jealous that Kayla had the money to just make a spur of the moment decision like that. She certainly wasn’t going to mention to the others that she was suffering financial issues. The last thing she wanted was for her team to take pity on her. Nicole wasn’t going to put her problems on another person dammit!
Nicole settled into the back row, and was almost surprised when Grace got in on the other side. Devon and Jeff took the next row up, leaving the passenger seat empty beside Kayla. When the car started, some somber music began playing, dark and foreboding. Kayla cursed and quickly skipped it.
“Sorry, forgot that was on the playlist. We don’t need any of my emo shit playing right now.”
“It’s cool,” Jeff said. “Better than my playlist. I’ve got a bunch of show intros on mine that swing through the gamut of mood swings.”
Nicole snorted. “Let me guess, you’ve got some of those perky Japanese pop songs that are about depression.”
“Oh yeah, those are fun,” Jeff said with a laugh.
“I like to see the look of recognition in the eyes of guys when they hear the intro to a show meant for little girls,” Grace said. “It’s fun hearing their excuses as they try to defend their fragile masculinity.”
“Yeah, that shit’s great,” Kayla said. A new song began to play and Nicole had to resist the urge to burst into laughter as she recognized the tune as just that. “Perfection.”
Jeff didn’t have any reservations about laughing, then he began to sing along rather proudly about friendship and the wrapping up of winter. Nicole and Grace shared a look and with a mutual shrug, both joined in singing. By the end of the first verse the only one not singing was Devon, who just looked uncomfortable with the whole situation. Kayla seemed to catch onto that, looking up through the rear-view.
“You okay big guy?”
Nicole couldn’t see Devon’s expression, but she could see how Kayla was looking back at him through the mirror with a frown. Something in Nicole’s stomach twisted, a sense of foreboding that she couldn’t quite shake as Devon seemed to consider what to say.
“How can you stand to sing that?” Devon asked, directing the question at Jeff. “It’s so…”
“Fun?” Jeff asked. “Dude, lighten up and live a little. The sooner you stop feeling shame for enjoying something the faster you’ll enjoy life.”
Nicole nodded along. “None of us are promised tomorrow, especially as Rangers. We’re fighting for our lives out there, all to try and claw back a future for humanity. Any of us could die in the next incursion.”
“And that justifies acting foolish?” Devon scoffed. “You said it! We’re Rangers, we need to be an example for the people, not singing childish songs.”
“Every party needs a pooper, that’s why they invited you,” Jeff sang under his breath.
As if to prove a point, Nicole turned her phone around showing a group of US marines singing the very same song that Devon was bitching about while grinning widely. They were really getting into it, even acting out some of the scenes. It was genuinely amusing seeing some of the strongest looking men that Nicole had ever seen singing along.
“Point and match?” Jeff asked with a giggle.
“What happened to men actually being men?” Devon muttered. “When did society get to be so gay?”
“About four thousand years ago,” Grace remarked. “Ever read the Epic of Gilgamesh? Shall we kick the ball forward and talk about Sappho of Lesbos?”
Wow, go Grace. The Epic of Gilgamesh might have been a bit of a stretch as only a few of the original tablets ever referenced more than friendship between the title character and Enkidu, but when did that ever stop people? Even if those tablets were essentially fanfiction of the original it still supported her argument. Name dropping the OG Lesbian was just icing on the cake after that.
“We’ve always been here,” Nicole continued, happy to capitalize on what her friend started as well as throw out some implicit support. “Despite some people’s best efforts to erase us from history, we’ve always been there, and so long as people continue to exist, so will we.”
Devon’s jaw was clearly clenched, and Nicole was tempted to take it farther, maybe mention the two women of the Fire Rescue team that got married over the summer, or how the San Francisco team was one giant polycule, but that felt like it might be pushing a bit too hard. Devon was clearly struggling with acceptance, and trying to force it upon him would only make him lash out harder.
“Let me guess,” Kayla said softly. She’d pulled over at some point, into a fast food parking lot with a wrapped drive through. “You picked that up from either your parents, pastor, or some social media alpha male type?”
Oh no, was Kayla actually suggesting that Devon might be an incel or some shit? Nicole shuddered at the thought, knowing that it could break their team forever. Worse, Devon wasn’t answering her. He just sat there at an angle where Nicole couldn’t see his face. After a few minutes his seat belt came undone and the door was flung open.
“What the hell?” Kayla yelled out the door at him.
Devon didn’t respond, instead heading inside the bigot chicken place leaving the four of them to figure out just what the hell that meant for their team. Grace was biting her lip, looking between the restaurant outside and the open door. After a few moments the door shut on its own, likely a push button given it was a newer vehicle and Kayla let her head rest on the steering wheel.
“Well, that was all kinds of fucked,” Kayla muttered.
Jeff chuckled darkly. “Yeah, that’s a level of repression I try to avoid. No wonder he kept trying to present himself as our leader, he probably thought being chosen as a Ranger meant he was the main character.”
“We’re all the main characters of our own story,” Nicole said. “That doesn’t give you the right to be a dick to your supporting cast.”
Grace snorted. “Tell that to an author. There’s a reason I usually prefer fanfiction.”
“Not just because it’s reliably queer?” Kayla asked teasingly.
Grace’s cheeks darkened as she looked away. “Okay, that’s a big part of it too. The other part is that it was one of the few ways I could find queer representation that wouldn’t get me busted by my parents.”
Another tidbit of Grace’s life that made Nicole’s blood boil. Her friend really hadn’t experienced the best childhood, had she? Nicole made a personal note to herself that if she ever met Grace’s parents, she would punch at least one of them if Grace decided to take the high road instead. Her friend needed some form of catharsis in her life.
In a show of solidarity, Nicole reached out, laying a hand beside Grace’s, an invitation and offer for comfort, but not an assumption. It would be up to her if she was willing to accept it given what had just happened. Nicole was about to withdraw her hand when Grace grasped it and squeezed tight.
“Thanks,” her friend whispered.
Nicole looked over, ever so slightly, and smiled. “Anytime.”
Kayla hadn’t missed the exchange, now looking between the two of them and then down at their joined hands. “Okay you two, be honest. When did you girls start fucking?”