“Uh…” Actress had to stop and think for a second, it took me a moment to register that PrincesShifter was even here.

“Apparently he’s going to jump from here and do something cool. He’s done it before.” Requiem said nonchalantly, her eyes not even landing on the hero.

“No, I heard what I heard. You said he was going to activate a spell.” The hero stomped in, looking like she was accusing us of something.

“So?” I say, vaguely noticing the start of one of Requiem’s calming spells. “We literally call ourselves the theater. You expect us not to be a bunch of nerds?”

“No! No… People don’t just… use that kind of terminology.” PrincesShifter heavily sat down in one of the chairs and put her head in her hands. “The only people I have ever heard say that kind of stuff before have…”

She slowly straightened up, and a look of realization grew on her face. If it wasn’t for Requiem, the three of us would be showing just how nervous we were.

“You’ve heard other people say that before?” I asked with a laugh. “Probably a bunch of losers.”

That got me an angry stare. “The only LOSERS whom I’ve heard this from before were trying to directly work for a god.”

Thank you Requiem, for this simple spell.

“That sounds like fun.” Actress leaned back in her chair. I pretended to laugh at the idea and Requiem just gave a noncommittal shrug. That threw the hero through a loop once more.

“What do you mean that sounds like fun? Those beings can destroy the entire universe!” PrincesShifter was starting to have a hard time breathing. “Oh my god, The Theater is working for a god. Aren't you?”

“Look.” Actress cut the hero off and leaned forward, both Requiem and I turned to look at the growing crowd below as if on cue. “Everyone in the theater has goals beyond this organization, and all of us have mastered power beyond anything you can understand. Even if we don’t know the full scope of what is going on, we’re not idiots. We have our reasons.”

The room seemed to be still for a moment, and I couldn’t help but cast a glance back at the hero. She seemed stuck in her own mind, an angry confusion was evident. Actress was just sitting there with a casual smile.

“Fine then.” PrincesShifter burst from her thoughts. “What are your reasons?”

“I can’t speak for everyone, but it wouldn’t hurt to say.” Actress said. Both Requiem and I quickly turned to her, silently wishing for her to be careful with what she said. “For me… and possibly Choir, I needed an out. That’s exactly what I got. I know that Carnival here, as well as Record and Photographer, needed information and resources they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. For Requiem, she’s here to protect something, and if you can’t tell by today, Emcee thinks along those lines as well.”

I shot the villain with an annoyed look. She got the gist of my reason but I don’t know if I wanted that shared or not.

“Why is Emcee doing all of this anyway?” The hero said, stealing a glance at the crowd herself.

“He owes it to someone.” Requiem answered, “And it doesn’t hurt that he can drag his favorite heroes into all of it.”

“It’s also a bit about the chaos of it all. At this point even if it wasn’t what we originally wanted it’s what we crave.” Actress said with a chuckle.

“ohmygoditsprincessshifterwhatisshedoinghere-” Everyone’s attention was stolen by a new figure standing in the doorway. He looked like he was barely a teen. Dressed in an “inconspicuous” blue hoodie, jeans, and a flat-brimmed cap, everyone couldn’t help but stare.

His face and hands were covered in shimmering scales.

“Um… um sorry… Mom said that I had to watch away from the crowd. So I thought that I could do that from here since it’s high up.” The kid stammered, nervously pulling at the ends of his sleeves all the while.

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“And who are you?” Actress led.

“I’m not supposed to say.” He said while still standing in the doorway, “Mom doesn’t like it when I give away too much information, cause I’ll get kidnapped again. And she doesn’t like it when she has to have Ice King find me and rescue me.”

“Oh.” PrincesShifter said with a sigh, “I know who he is. He’s Silver, GoldBella’s kid. You! Come on in, you’re safe.”

Silver perked up, quickly walked in, and took a seat, his eyes firmly fixed on PrincesShifter. Then both he and I noticed that he took a seat right next to me. The kid jumped a bit as if he was registering me for the very first time.

Silver’s eyes seemed to lock onto mine for a moment, his shifting into draconic slits. I felt my brows arch as he suddenly started to track down my arm, landing on my hand. He then reached out and took it in both of his, slowly rubbing his thumbs over the back of mine.

That went on for a good minute. I spent most of that time casting concerned looks to the other villains. Hells, even the hero got a pleading look from me.

Eventually, with a laugh mind you, PrincesShifter sent something over her communicator. A few moments later Speed Queen was inside of the booth.

“Oh thank goodness this is where you went.” The newly arrived hero said as she assessed the situation. She then slowly put her hand a good distance in front of his face, gaining his attention. He looked up and smiled at her, while Speed Queen shot a glance toward PrincesShifter, “At least there’s a somewhat friendly face here. Of course, The Theater would rope someone like you into this.”

PrincesShifter just shrugged with a small smile, when Silver suddenly spoke up.

“Aunt Jackie! He’s a tiger!” He said excitedly, Speed Queen tried her best not to pinch the bridge of her nose. “But he’s also a rabbit, and he’s also a cow, but he’s hurt. And he’s something else, but it’s too small to see, and he’s even human, but that one is really hurt!”

I felt my face blanch at his words, and he still had yet to actually let go.

“How about we Don’t pry into people's secrets, ey?” Silver seemed to become surprised at my voice. It probably didn’t help that I couldn’t keep myself from growling, which earned me dirty looks from Speed Queen and PrincesShifter.

“He has a point there buddy.” Actress slowly pulled my chair closer to hers, which finally prompted the teen to let go. “Carnival is very sensitive about what he is, and he can get a bit snappy about it.”

Somehow that didn’t earn an unhappy look from the heroes. But it did earn one from me. Why did I feel like I was the one attacked with that?

Silver nodded, back to his nervous state. I turned my attention back to the show, where SoundScape was doing his best at one of his own songs. Fortunately, the crowd was feeding into the energy at this point. But I could hear Speed Queen and PrincesShifter whispering behind me, going on about how the hero of forms was using the moment to study the theater. This was her chance to get as much information as she could out of us.

I pretended that I didn’t hear that.

But I couldn’t pretend that I didn’t feel Silver staring into the back of my head. Every subtle shift and every flick of the ear was caught by the scaled kid.

“So how am I supposed to get from here to there anyhow?” I said to try and break the silence while also changing the awkward topic.

“Oh! There’s a platform through that door right there.” Actress pointed to a door to the left side of the room. “It should lead right above where the machine is set up.”

“Okay, I think I know what I’m gonna do. WHAT!” I almost managed to rip my hand away from Silver. Who is yet again holding it in both of his. Blue, now glowing eyes fixated, and his thumbs slowly moved through the fur on the back of my hand.

“Silver!” Speed Queen rushed as slowly as she could to try and separate the two of us. “You need to let him go, you do not need to be excited right now.”

The boy ignored the hero, fixating on me. “You should be the rabbit, my mom said she likes rabbits.”

“Okay, he’ll be a rabbit, but only if you let go.” Speed Queen answered, shooting me a look of warning… only it was more of a pleading one. “You also have to calm down or else he won’t do it. Then Mom won’t be able to see him as a rabbit.”

That suddenly got Silver’s attention, and the glow in his eyes went away. He finally backed off and started to pull at the sleeves of his hoodie again, but this time there was an excited smile on his face.

I don’t think I’m the only one who doesn’t fully understand the situation here…

With a bit of prompting from Speed Queen, I backed off a few steps away from everyone and put my hands in my pockets. From there I let a flame bloom from my face and slowly consume my whole form. And I grabbed the rabbit mask.

Soon enough, with the last flickers of fire, I stood there as a rabbit beastman.

I quickly checked myself in the reflection of the big window to make sure that the makeup and outfit came out correctly. I could see Actress doing the same… or she was ogling me, I know she’s not past that.

PrincesShifter was also looking at me with some genuine curiosity. I’ve seen her transform and now she's seen me do it.

And Silver… Silver had the biggest toothiest smile on his face. It only took him a few seconds for him to rush up and grab my hand again despite Speed Queen’s protests.

…

It only took a few more seconds for me to become fed up with it, and I eventually just walked away and through the door.

“I’ll be out here.” I grumbled, “Tell me when my cue is on.”