Taylor Cohen is a star, or she likes to see things that way. She walks like she’s on a runway most of the time, and whenever she’s not the fabric witch Actress, she’s usually playing coordinator for the theater. Or at least whenever the conductor or the Doc aren't.

Otherwise, she’s a fashionista and more of a craftsman than me. She’s the one responsible for all of the costumes. I’m even going to partially count mine after her retouches and whatever she wants to do to the poor thing now.

Taylor is also the one responsible for having hacked my phone so that I can’t be traced, as well as the entire collection of communications artifacts everyone else uses.

Not something someone would expect out of a former child actor.

“Alright, let’s do this.” The villainess says as she sets a small duffel down on the table basically everyone was at. Even Erik and Lucy have wandered their way over. “Time to make a bomb.”

“What?” both Michael and Casper say at once, then both of them instantly remember what she means.

“A costume bomb? Will that even work for Archer?” Rose asks.

“Yeah, the whole reason I made my own costume was so the transformations take over,” I say while still pushing the costume over to Taylor.

“As far as I’m aware it should- Did you not wash the thing?” Taylor makes a face and starts casting a cleansing spell.

“Why would I? I was in constant pain up until a few minutes ago.” I wave over my face, making a point of the bruise being gone.

“You did have all morning.” Erik decided to join in on the conversation. His voice synthesizer only punctuated the point.

“I woke up at around one, so no.” I leaned in on my hands, resting my elbows on the table, I turned to look at the last member of the theater present. “So Liu, is your mission done?”

Lucy was caught off guard for a moment, not expecting the sudden shift.

“It was fine. Had to deal with a bunch of idiot office workers, but nothing bad.” She pulled out her camera while answering, showing me a picture. It was of some seemingly random old dude holding an ancient-looking mirror.

“Wow… so that’s actually the Yang Demon…” I marveled. Lucy hummed to confirm.

I’m honestly kinda jealous that she got to see such a legend in person.

“Alright everyone, stand back!” Taylor said as she slammed a solid glass orb about the size of a baseball on top of my costume. She then spent the next few minutes carefully drawing a spell form in a dome shape on top of all of that.

It got to the point where the air around the costume was so packed with the form that you couldn’t see anything beneath it. But with a flash, all that was left was the orb.

“Here you go.” Taylor handed me the orb, or what is basically known by the theater as a costume bomb. “Try and put it in your pocket then transform, then shatter it.”

“Okay…” I said slightly confused, “Why?”

“If I’m correct, and only if I am.” Taylor wavered a bit, “Any clothing on your person during a transformation changes with you to match the new form, that’s how I’ve always seen it. So if the bomb is on you when you transform… Hopefully, it works.”

“Sure…” I grab the orb and stuff it in the pocket. While my hand is in there I also root around for a mask, landing on the rabbit. “Here goes nothing.”

I hear a whiny ‘no’ from Rose as I activate my show magic. What they saw was my eyes begin to glow as flames flowed down from my face to the rest of my body, blocking everything out. The second I was sure I was covered, I whipped the mask out, placed it on my face, and activated it in one movement.

As soon as the transformation was done I had to stretch out some soreness in the rabbit’s muscles. Apparently, the stress from yesterday still lingered in this body. Now I’m kinda scared to turn into the tiger.

“Now set it off!” Taylor said a bit too excitedly. Michael, Rose, and Casper seemed to be feeding into the energy by the way they were acting, everyone else was casting doubtful looks.

“As soon as I find something to hide behind.” I started walking over to one of the bigger pieces of equipment in the room. “Going from neutral to this is a completely different beast.”

That got a ‘ha’ from Michael.

Once I got behind what I think is actually an ancient computer, I held the orb above my head. I’ve seen the others use these things before, all it is is a bunch of Taylor’s spells condensed into the thing.

I bring the thing down as hard as I can, shattering the glass on the floor. A sudden rush of magic overtakes me. It’s uncomfortable, I don’t know if it’s because I use space magic, but I can feel pinpricks of shattered space catch on my fur.

Thankfully, it’s over in seconds, and it looks like it worked. The boots have transitioned into wraps as they should have, and all of the other important measurements were good.

I grabbed the unbroken orb from the floor and stuffed it in my pocket… wait, why did my pocket not switch out… actually, my portal artifact was still around my wrist…

That means my mask is unaffected as well…

“Hello, puny humans,” I say as I round the corner as Carnival, putting on as smarmy of a smile as I could.

“YUS!” Taylor shouted, making the others chuckle, “You’re beautiful!”

“oh.” I was caught off guard by the statement, my face heating up a bit. I brought my hand up the back of my head and rubbed it a bit. Then I felt something on my neck… why am I wearing something on my neck?

I pulled my phone out and used it as a mirror for the second time today.

“TAYLOR! Why am I wearing a dog collar?” My embarrassment surged, causing me to stomp back over to the table.

Of course, everyone was laughing ‘cause no one has ever taken an angry rabbit seriously.

“It’s the best communicator I could find… heh,” Taylor couldn't meet my gaze, “It’s also the only artifact that stays with your costume, the pocket and portal stay out.”

“You know how much damage I’m already doing to the perception of beastmen right? I really don’t want to add fuel to that fire.” I said.

“It doesn’t stand out.” Lucy elbowed me, “It’s dark enough that someone will have to get up close to see it.”

“That, heh, and there’s only so many things I can use that match your whole… thing.” Taylor gestured to me.

I grumbled a bit before I grabbed the costume bomb again and changed back to what I was wearing earlier. At least I could be happy that I don’t have to wear it on a day-to-day basis.

“Wow, that feels weird. SO.” I say while casting my gaze back to the monitor trying to make out a value I should have already known, “Besides Casper, does anybody else have plans in motion.”

“Nope,” Taylor said

“Nada.” Faye shrugged.

“Actually the battle with the Saints is off.” Casperd said, defeated, “Big Boss got injured last night, and he was the one I really wanted to challenge.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Aww…” Michael deflated a bit.

“Michael, after what happened with Reed I doubt being seen in Chicago of all places would be good for Abuelo’s health.” Rose passively poked at her cousin.

“Wow…” Erik said after a lull, “For the world's most dangerous group of villains we got nothing going on…”

“Are you trying to jinx us?” Lucy asked.

“Since when were we the ‘most dangerous?” Faye tilted her head.

“Since yesterday if you watch HNN.” I said sarcastically, “OH! Actually, I’ve seen people online comparing me to the Rathmurden.”

“Oof,” Faye said as a few of the other’s cringed a bit.

“Hey, anybody want ta’ get some food?” Casper asked the group, “It's almost five. I could go for some pizza…”

“It’s five already?” I say bewildered… yup 4:46… Wait, I hear something. Who’s tromping down the stairs?

“I heard something about pizza?” Reed’s groggy voice said a bit too low, Casper and I are probably the only ones to hear it.

“Look who's awake,” Faye said with a sigh, only for all of us to get caught off guard when one of the chambers flared to life… Sable’s…

As soon as Sable stepped out of the tube it was obvious that she had someone energize her. She didn’t look normal persey, more like someone who wakes up at five in the morning and only has a cup of coffee for breakfast and an energy drink to supplement that an hour later. Then add a layer of actual functioning on top of that image.

“What are you doing here young lady?” Faye immediately said and walked over to Sable.

“I don’t know, you lot said it was urgent.” Sable still had a bit of hesitance in her voice

“Yeah… why did you want me out of bed so badly anyways?” Reed asked, only to tilt his head when it was obvious everyone was confused…

Then Sable showed us her phone… She had received texts from everyone telling her to get back to the base. The same thing had happened to Reed.

Theater…

RISE.

Ten figures stood in a semicircle on an endless sea. All eyes stare at a being beyond true comprehension.

Four, looked on in wonder, yearning for power.

Three, looked on in awe, for they stood before a god.

Two, looked on in fear, as they knew that unending knowledge was dangerous.

One… One looked on in deep contempt, as their chains rattled hidden in their soul.

“What purpose do you call us for?” The Beating Heart led and kneeled, The Willow Tree followed the example.

“I wish to talk to you all for multiple reasons.” The Story said while never truly looking at any of the souls. “For one, a few requests. For two, a warning. And for three a treat.”

The emotions of the souls flickered from fear to excitement to wanting.

“I will start with the warning. My time with you is running shorter by the day. The magic holding me to this realm is weakening, and I do not know in which realm I will end up next.” The Voice said solemnly. “However, not all is lost. There still remains another year at least until I am evicted.

The Time Thief couldn’t help but begin pondering, and he didn’t miss his chance to use the voice he will never use again. “Do you need us to finish the ritual?”

“Yes, that is the first favor I wish to ask, speed up your need for the final number, and complete the ritual.” The Orcistator commanded.

“Then we will have finally completed the purpose of The Theater.” The Faithful Dove shuttered in excitement.

“Finally, I will make you aware of a treat I have prepared for you all.” The conductor tilted his / her head, “I suggest making a hidden appearance at the sight of yesterday’s destruction.

True excitement emanated from all ten souls, and quickly they began to fade from the unknown realm. The Commanding Pulse and The Time Thief are the quickest to leave, followed by The Liberation Star and The Infinite Force. The Living Light-show and The Faithful Dove paid final respects, as The Willow Tree and The Beating Heart shared a prayer…

The Unseen Eye and The Faceless Beast then realized the truth of the situation after a few seconds of silence.

“You said a few requests…” The Faceless Beast observed.

“Yes, indeed.” they / it relaxed their posture, looking out to the void / to the sea. “I have become aware of a possible benefactor, with a vested interest in the continuation of the theater. Regardless of my disappearance or arrival.”

“Why tell just us?” The Unseen Eye asked the obvious, “Why not tell the entire theater?”

“I do not know nor care about the end goal, but this is a powerful individual. If they haven't already reached out to the pair of you, they will soon. Pay heed to the leads you are given, but don’t rush in head first…” The god of conflict sighed. “Archer Bowen… Liu Chun… Exercise great caution. For my sake.” Goodbye for now.

I woke up at the exact same time as everyone else, slowly processing what just happened. Wondering just what I was going to do about the message I received

“ALRIGHT! PIZZA.” Casper said basically the second everyone’s senses were back online. “Let’s go to New York.”

A chorus of agreements sounded out, and Taylor shot up to go and set up the teleporters. Meanwhile, I cringed inwardly, I’ve been to New York City and back four times including today.

The first two times I flew there… Hey, now that I’m a member of the theater I don’t have to fly commercial anymore.

“All’s good,” Taylor shouted as everyone shuffled into their chambers…

Except for Lucy, who was scrambling to set up a bunch of cameras. She only just made it into her chamber right before the whole sequence started.

Five, Four, Three, Two…

I was now standing in an alleyway, the sounds of the city diluting my senses. Casper and Michael were standing a few feet away from me, and I could see across the street Rose and Sable.

Eventually, the group chat was pinged with a location, apparently, there was a good pizza place right across the street from the destroyed building we needed to investigate, nice.

Thankfully, Taylor had the foresight to place us only a block or two away from our final destination. A place that called itself Lugie’s of all things…

I was sorta expecting a Tony’s.

And thank the gods that this is an unsleeping city. As even though there was an actively condemned skyscraper across the street the pizza was still hot. There were a few outdoor tables we commandeered, and once everyone agreed on what we were getting, Rose, Taylor, and I made our way into the parlor.

Meanwhile, the others used the opportunity to cast their own magical senses over the destroyed building.

Actually, the pizza place was surprisingly empty. Which was weird considering that the street outside was still at a normal crowd level for five in the evening. There were only two tables occupied, one by a group of four rough-looking men, probably gang members. The other was occupied by a young lone businessman, who was visibly shaking to the point I could smell his fear from the entrance.

“What do you want?” The middle-aged man manning the counter rudely said. I just bee-lined it to the cooler, checking out the pre-made salads…

Yeah… I know… salad. Look, I love pizza, I would rather be having that with the rest of the theater, but… While I’m in the rabbit form, or even the bull, too much meat or dairy will make the bodies extremely sick. The same thing happens if there’s too much fruit or vegetables when I’m the tiger.

When I’m human I’m completely an omnivore though.

“I need two pies.” I hear Taylor start, “One cheese and one supreme…” The man replied with an ‘ugh’ and got to work.

“Hey, Archer?” Rose tried to get my attention, “Did Faye say she wanted a soda?”

“Nope, I think she’ll be fine with water like Sable,” I said while lifting one of the salads to inspect it.

“Why am I the only girl here who drinks soda? All you boys will guzzle the sugar stuff like no tomorrow, but no-”

“Lucy asked for a cola…” I cut the poor druid off, “That and Erik won’t drink anything other than water and juice.”

“Are you trying to sass me?” Rose stuck her tongue out and I just had to roll my eyes.

“Can the two of you stop that?” Taylor snapped at Rose and me.

“Yes Mom,” I said as I set two salads on the counter, giving the witch a big dopey smile. I got elbowed in return.

“Here’s your stupid pizza. And of course, the bunny wants a salad.” The man that was supposed to be getting our stuff said as he punched some numbers into the register.

I just tilted my head, as if I didn’t catch what he said.

“What… are you stupid too?” the man snarked as he took the cash Taylor had held out.

“No?” I said slowly, before taking a sniff of the air. I didn’t smell anything other than pizza, but I could feel Rose trying to prime a spell. “It’s just that I’d suggest having your black mold issue looked into, most people actually care that their food is good… But then again I’m not exactly someone known for their taste.”

I left that off with a small smile, the man looked absolutely bewildered. Then I grabbed my food and a few of the bottled drinks and walked out. As soon as I was out the door I let out a huge sigh.

“Rose,” Taylor said in a stern tone, “What have we said about jumping to magical revenge over rude people.”

“Ugh… but he was so… so…” Rose sighed as she set her share of the drinks onto one of the tables we had commandeered.

“And Archer.” I straightened up wondering what the team mom was mad about, “What have I said about egging on bad ideas?”

“What?” I sat down next to Faye, handing her her food. “I was trying to give Rose an idea that wasn’t ‘send a giant vine through the ovens’”

“I was actually gonna cut off the power to the refrigerator, but the mold idea was easier… What? He was rude.” Taylor just facepalmed and gave up on Rose’s antics.

“What’s going on?” Reed butted in as he reached for one of the boxes.

“Not much.” Taylor shook her head, “We just chose a spot that’s a front for money laundering.”

“Ah.”

“What did ya’ll find over there?” Taylor tilted her head towards the destroyed building.

“Not much,” Reed sighed with disappointment, “no one in the building, lax security, and nothing that stands out as important from here.”

“So We’ll have to go in,” Taylor said as she took a bite of her pizza.

“Yeah…” Reed looked at the street longingly, “It’s just… too easy, it’s almost insulting.”

“You say that like yesterday didn’t happen,” Erik said from the other side of the table. That got a look from Reed.

“A kaiju was sacrificed for the mission, you personally fought Iron Magnum and Deus Ex. Both you and Archer were extremely over-taxed, not to mention the injuries you received.” Sable gave Reed a tired stink eye, “Not to mention that Carnival is now known on the world stage as a villain who can challenge the top tier heroes… which he can’t.”

“Hey… I mean true, but hey.”

“What the conductor has directed us to is just the prize for our efforts.” Sable ended her statement with a wave of her half-eaten slice. From there there was a lull in the ongoing conversations. The only sounds are that of our eating and the surrounding city.

However, even as we moved on to other topics, it wasn’t hard to tell that there was building anticipation. Everyone was just wondering what was being dropped into our laps.