Battle Vixens! - 76

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Episode 76: What's My Age Again?

The back of the van was silent for a while. Gemma and Light both seemed tired and stressed—conflicted, even—each for her own reasons. For being the one most recently in the belly of one of those beasts, Ning found it strange she was presently the most cheerful out of the three. Well..they were both mentally stuck in place right now, only waiting for their arrival at the VI. Maybe they just needed a distraction.

"Hey, Light?"

"Hmmh?" She turned her head halfway.
"Is theee, offer to make me a bit taller still open?" That got Gemma's attention right away. Light needed a moment to make sense of the question.

"Uh..? Oh. Right. I almost managed to forget about that," she said, sounding annoyed. "Sure, though; why?"
"I'm thinking I might wanna stay this way for good, real soon. But, if I do..well, the way I look now has a few issues. I'd rather look a bit more mature, and be able to reach things a li'l easier, y'know? Aand...since nobody knows exactly how the VI's 'cure' works, it'd be a perfect excuse to say that did it."

"Uh, wait..what?" Gemma finally interjected. "Taller?"

"Did I never...?" Light let out a huff of breath in annoyance at herself. Then, turning to address the two-tailed vixen: "When I beat Ning and got 'ownership' of her power or whatever, that was the first time she visited me. What she told me then is why we even know as much as we do about how this works."
"I..knew that, I think," she said, visibly thinking about it. "But..?"
"She told me that...I could tell people's powers to act however I wanted, to go in and out of their owner, and...order them to change their owner's appearance. At the time, she said the changes I could make were minor, but also said something like 'the more you collect, the more you can change'..and then implied that it could involve mind control, if I wanted it to." Light's voice was strained at the end of this explanation, and she was looking away from both of them toward a corner on the floor.

"Oh."

"But..you obviously don't want that," Gemma continued after a short pause. "So it hasn't happened, right?"
Light exhaled again. "I, hope so? It's not clear to me if..I mean, look. Every person I've, has just—uugh." She pulled on her own ears in frustration.
"...You're worried that we're acting how you'd want us to 'cause you made us?" Gemma somehow extracted from the incoherent half-explanation. "That's dumb." Both of them looked her way; Ning was a little concerned about this herself, now that she thought about it, and Gemma dismissing it offhand like that was surprising.

"You, um," she hesitated, instantly nervous at being the center of attention, but pressed herself to continue: "You don't control our powers or, change our bodies just by unconsciously wanting them to do something, so why would that one part work any different? A-anyway, if you have any other explanation at all for how people are acting, like maybe we really wanna help, then it's kinda, super disrespecting that to think it's got something to do with what you want, isn't it?"

"...You're right. That's really, really obvious now that you mention it." She looked between both of them with an expression halfway between contrition and frustration with herself. "Sorry..."

"I-it's okay. Um, I know what it's like to worry, a lot, about something stupid, believe me," Gemma said. "But um, back to..you could make us look different whenever?"
"I guess. I think it goes without saying I haven't actually tested the extent of that at all. Just, changed Ning's hair color once, and it went back when we tried to 'tune' her power some so it would be easier to control. Uh, you did know something about that, right?"
"I, never really thought about it before. But that makes sense too," she said, nodding.

"Aaagh, I need to tell Rowan about this too," Light realized aloud. "I really tried to put the whole thing out of my mind, because..the way she told me about it, it was just..uugh." She made a disgusted sound, shaking her head with her eyes forced shut as if hoping to cast the memory out again.
"If I gather rightly, though..he's got 'power' over someone else now too?" Ning said. "You're sure he won't misuse those parts of it?"
"Yes," she said without hesitation. "Anyway, whoever's upstairs of her needs a contingency plan or..something. Someone else might actually want to use the 'mind control' part. Or, this could be abused to disguise someone..I mean, that's how I thought to use it first myself."

After a moment of silence, Gemma looked to Ning again. "So, um..you decided to 'go public' for sure?"

"Yep. Maybe as soon as...tomorrow, if I can. Don't need to do it today just to stay 'Ning'."

"Why, uh so soon?"
"Welp." She leaned back, looking up at the roof for a moment and nervously kicking her feet forward and back. "Basically, I think my goose is cooked anyhow. I mean, all those folks who know me got ushered outta my store, didn't see me or my girl, who I'd never leave behind, after. Then 'Ning' shows up right away to the fight just walking outta my store?" She looked forward at the two of them again. "I know some-a my neighbors know, too. Like, that big turtle thing showed up right outside my doorstep, and I showed up right away for that too. Not too many alibis to swap to work out who I could be.

"And uh, I said this another way before, but—" Ning shrugged, and put up a hand to a thumbs-down gesture. "Being old sssuuucks. I'm gettin' sick of it. Might as well take the chance to rip the band-aid off before someone else does it for me. Thankfully, it's all stuff that just says who I am. I think y'all are pretty safe still, aside from literally everyone thinking you're students. Guess living and working in the same places as hundreds of other people's got its perks."

"That all makes sense, I guess," Light said, nodding. "So, you wanna try to do that here? While we're just..." She waved vaguely to convey the concept of their still being in transit.
"Sure, may as well," she nodded. "Be a good way for you to broach the subject with Rowan, I bet."

"So, what, just: Taller? Older-..looking?"
"Little bit." Ning ran a hand through her hair. "Maybe a head or so up, and I'd appreciate looking more obviously 'filled out', you know, so I can't be mistaken for a kid."

"Hmmh." Light poked at one of her own ears, thinking. "Look, what if I just try telling it to make you look like whatever you're picturing in your head? Instead of us going back and forth forever tweaking things."
"Worth a shot," she shrugged.

"Hhokay." She spoke Ning's phrase, which seemed to cause her ears to perk up—like her name was being called at dinnertime or something. It felt like not just her mind, but even more so her body, paid attention to that call. A kind of warmth hit her for a moment, the sense of youthful energy her powers always gave her mixing with the same kind of calm feeling from when her power was 'tuned' before.
Ning closed her eyes, humming softly to herself. "Hmm~mmmh." A few arcs of electricity jumped across her body, not more than the equivalent of some static. Her body pushed its way upward, her hips and chest pressing out and forward respectively, and her clothes rearranged somewhat; her hair grew out a little bit in the back, some strands tickling her shoulders. The brief hum carried the sound of even her voice maturing, audibly deepening just enough to be noticeable.

The 'older' Ning opened her eyes again. It had taken only a couple of seconds to happen, and when it was over she not only looked, but felt a little more mature, like the extra calm that helped her control her power better had spread into her mentality just a bit. She looked down at her clothes, prodding a blue collar now around her neck and noting how her usual top hugged the larger bust closely. The cape she usually wore had converted into a jacket, a bit like the hoodie her 'boosted' form had come with, and oddly, one of her stockings had turned shorter, exposing her left leg from just under the knee up. But of course, this was far from the only outfit she'd be wearing in this body from here on.

"Very nice," she said, grinning. "Thank you."

---

Emma wasn't too sure.

It rolled around and around in her head the entire rest of the trip to the VI. Light could make her—probably all 'three' of her fox forms—look however she liked, within perhaps some reasonable bounds. Even though there wasn't a good excuse for her to suddenly look different, the temptation was there. There was no question that if she asked, Light would do it, and they could both trust that someone could come up with a decent excuse. Or: It was magic, so who even knew the rules in the first place? 'I suddenly looked different this particular time that I changed to the foxy form' was about as good an excuse as any.

But, even with the temptation hanging there in front of her, she couldn't ask..it didn't feel right. Looking at Ning's new appearance, she felt like it represented something about who she really was. This was someone who'd lived through an entire life, probably endured the loss of a lot of his...her family, down to one precious granddaughter. Who owned his—her, dang it!—her own business and was dedicated to raising that little girl all alone. A mature, even motherly look, was who she was much more than the somewhat childish appearance Ning had started out with.

But Emma? Putting aside the fact that Plus was basically her exact appearance with differently colored eyes and hair and fox parts, a smaller, more immature sort of appearance simply fit her best. She wasn't going to start living life as two fox-girls that could merge into one at will any time soon—that she was aware of—and being taller or having a bigger bust didn't maker her better at fighting monsters. It wouldn't even particularly help her out with using those bodies to do two things at once in her apartment, or anywhere else. She already had a way to look..much more like one or two of her 'ideal' body shapes, with Amory, and somehow it felt much more right that that was temporary...it represented, maybe, a dream to reach for.

When she'd seen Ning change, there was this sense that it was real, not just a temporary alteration. This wouldn't go back if her powers were 'tuned' again, like the hair. Because...it was her, for real. If anything, that was what Emma really wanted, but she didn't even know what the resulting bodies should really look like.

Maybe...someday, she could ask Light to help her look different. But first she had to be different, or at least know what she even wanted in the first place.

The issue was mostly resolved in her mind by the time they arrived. That was good, because this was also her cue to be distracted by the thought of learning some new powers. Just like always, this anticipation mirrored that of a kid walking into an ice cream shop. It was always—fun, somehow—to watch someone do some magic and understand how they were doing it. Even though she couldn't directly imitate Magus's power, learning something new from the way she used it had been equally as fun. But this promised, in some sense, to be the "real thing" by comparison to that.

They disembarked into a small garage, where Rowan was waiting. He thanked the drivers and waved them toward a door to whatever their next task was, then turned to the three vixens. Light was hiding Ning's new appearance behind an illusion of the old one for the moment, since the drivers hadn't seen or heard that whole conversation, so he didn't instantly stare at her or anything.

"I caught up on what happened to you," he said. "Over here, we had two big turtles and a dragon like the one you fought on Tuesday. Are you all right?" The question seemed generally placed, not at any one of them in particular.

"About as much as we can be, I think," Light said. "Uh, look, there's something you should know about."
"You too, I think, but—you can go first."

He nodded through her explanation of the other aspects of 'owning' another vixen's powers, and watched as the illusion on Ning vanished.

"..We were thinking we could claim this happened when she woke up."
"Hmm. Should be easy enough to fake," he nodded. "I'll pass that info upstairs too. Thanks for letting me in on it. So, you..."

Ning nodded. "I wanna announce my real identity soon, I think. But first, I wanted to ask if there's anything that can be done to protect my granddaughter."
"Very likely. We...have some things in place by now, to protect the family members of known vixens. I'll ask, and have a solid answer for you before you leave today," he said seriously.

"Thank you."

"Now let's see..." It was like he was flipping through a notebook in his head, deciding which scribbled reminder to address first. "I got some messages from Magus suggesting that we get a base of sorts set up in your town. Obviously we can't build anything this big, but it shouldn't be hard to buy up and repurpose some space. A copule of days, tops. You're all free to use it or not, but the offer will be there. I also suggested we get some kind of lightweight armor made for those of us whose powers don't make us any less vulnerable when hit, and it turns out that's pretty easy to do. If you want, you could all get measured for something while you're here, have it delivered to the Quinns' house or something."

The three of them exchanged a brief look, all probably thinking the same thing: Armor was an option the whole time?! Obviously not, like, plate metal or anything, but modern science allowed for the creation of all kinds of protective equipment. Obviously none of them had even thought of that, it just felt 'normal' to go around fighting monsters in what were effectively somewhat flashy street clothes. The Giver obviously liked it that way, but that didn't mean anyone had to put up with it.

"Think on it," Rowan nodded. "Finally—I know you're all aware of the 'power boost' we get when angry enough. After last night, I had a hunch that we could get the same thing from emotions other than anger, and...I was right about that, but it's no less dangerous. Gemma..." Oh no, he was looking right at her.
"Um, yeah, I had something like that happen to me, when Ning got eaten," she said. "But it—um, it was mostly panic?" Emma's speech steadily accelerated as some of the panic seemed to come back just from remembering how it felt: "And I didn't do it on purpose, but once I realized what was happening I, I knew I needed it just to survive but also that I had to keep it under control to—to survive too, so I did, but it.."

She took a second to breathe, realizing some tears had started to form in her eyes. "Um..s-sorry." She wiped them on a sleeve and sniffed. Rowan had on a slightly concerned expression that said 'take all the time you need'. "It just..I felt like I was pulling hard on a rubber band, which was also me, keeping it tight but also not so tight that it broke. It, hurt, in a weird kind of way, but I think not...not as much as if I'd given in to it completely."

"I know what you mean about it hurting," he said quietly. "About it wanting to run away with you. I can't imagine keeping it under control for as long as you did. Anyway, I was just going to suggest the same thing I have with our team—to try to avoid relying on that as much as possible. Maybe pull each other out of it unless it's absolutely necessary."
"Y-yeah, that..seems like it'd be for the best." Light also seemed to silently agree.

The door into the garage cracked open. "Hey, can I come in already?" That was..Simon's voice. "It's been like, ten minutes!"
"Five," Rowan said. "Come on, then." The door opened and the man with earth powers strode in, his eye immediately drawn to Ning.

"Whooa, what happened?"

"You don't like it?" she said wryly, crossing her arms.
"Okay lady, you don't know me, but I'm sure you know enough to answer that. Just—how did you—?"
Rowan cleared his throat to interrupt the excited artist. "Our method for waking up vixens in comas had an unexpected side-effect for her," he stated flatly. And then, without enough space for Simon to object that he knew better: "Power sharing has other possibilities we weren't made aware of until just now." He seemed to be hedging his bets that Simon wouldn't know which 'we' was meant. Come to think of it, Rowan had seemed to understand right away that Light hadn't really intended to keep that aspect a secret in the first place.

"That's crazy! Hey, you want my power?" he said to Light.
"No."
"Oh come on, you could be the Avatar! And Amp has that bending-bending thing down pat too."

Light clenched her fists and physically shook, the volume of her voice steadily raising to a shout: "I'm not. Taking. Anyone. Else's. Power! I didn't even want the ones I have!"

Everyone was silent for a long, awkward moment. He was obviously joking, but it had set off the frustration Light had been feeling since gaining yet another power she could order around, and the end result was her actually getting angry toward another person—who wasn't the Puppeteer or the Giver—for once. Gemma looked over at her in concern, much the same thing everyone else was feeling.

"I'm sorry, I really seem to have hit a nerve I didn't mean to," Simon said gently, recovering from the outburst first.
Light sighed, upset with herself again. "No, I know. You were kidding. I'm just...having 'power' over other people like that doesn't sit well with me at all."

"Well, better you than a lot of other people, isn't it?" he said.
"I..don't know."
"Alright alright, but what's done is done. No use crying over accidentally spilled milk, yes?"

Light didn't verbally respond, but gave a kind of half-nod, which he took as sufficient cue to move on. "Anyway! Ning, Gemma! I must have pictures. I didn't even get a pic of your original look," he added to the lightning girl. Rowan shook his head and sighed quietly; it was hard not to envy his ability to confidently barge forward and yank the conversation over to whatever new topic he wished.

"And just what do you want pictures for?" Ning said, not exactly in the loop about this.

"Weeell—"

"Before we go into that," Rowan interrupted him gently, but firmly. "Gemma. I've taken the liberty of explaining to some of the Puppeteer's former victims your ability to learn powers from them, and asking for any volunteers to 'teach' you. I can take you to them, if you'd like."

"Oh, um, sure," she said, flashing a look Light's way for a fraction of a second before nodding to him. Emma fully registered the expression she'd gotten back only after answering, but it seemed to have been a 'go ahead' one. Rowan turned, making a small gesture for her to follow, and led the way through the door Simon had come from while he launched into an explanation of his painting project for Ning. A few steps past the door, Emma's ears picked up Light saying she could just make an illusion of Ning's former appearance and the predictable excited response from realizing that was an option in general.

"Dawn is also with them," Rowan said a few intersections later. "I was hoping she might recognize you, stir some memories maybe."
"Um, me? I mean, I only met her like..twice, I think?"

"Yes, but..we're reasonably sure that the easiest memories for them to get back are those with strong emotions tied to them. I didn't hear exactly what you said to her while I was 'dueling' Light, but I know it meant something to her."
"Oh.."

"Well, it is a long shot. But I'd appreciate you introducing yourself to her and Cynthia, anyway."

"Um—yeah. O-of course."

---

Once it was understood that her likeness wasn't going to be plastered all over the place, Ning agreed to getting some pictures taken right away, on 'one small condition' which she would tell him when they got there. Good enough! As he led the way to his commandeered 'photography room', Simon said, "Ah, yes. Light, I just wanted to express in person how proud I am." She shot him a look which said she had no idea what he was talking about. "You know—yesterday, the interview?"
"Oh."
"I mean it! You handled it splendidly. Didn't even seem the least bit nervous. You're really an inspiration."

"I..don't know about that. But, thanks, anyway. I guess I'm getting used to the idea of being 'in public', even though I still don't really like it."

They got inside, and he shut the door after politely holding it for the two vixens. "Okay. What's your condition, now?"
"Well." Ning crossed her arms. "I'm planning to stay this way, soon. Go public with my actual identity, and leave my 'old self'..which is literally pretty old, behind for good."

"Hmmh." Simon nodded, understanding this wasn't the whole explanation. It wasn't hard to imagine deciding to stay a young girl for most or all of the time himself, if he were a couple of decades older and more sore—but it wasn't something he'd ever really considered, for himself or anyone else, before. There was the small matter of permanently having superpowers that way, but most everyone seemed to have enough control to not do things like throw doors off their hinges by accident via super-strength.

"Since you've got the equipment here to take some nice photos, then...I thought I might ask for something to remember that 'me' by. A few prints, maybe, somethin' framed? If it's a lot of trouble, I don't mind paying for it. But, I can't exactly ask someone else to do it until the secret is really out, soo..."

"Ah! I see. That shouldn't be any trouble at all. Believe me, I'm much better at keeping secrets than I seem to be," Simon said. "And don't worry about paying for it—I make way enough money as it is, and your help with my project is payment enough. So..?" He shot a brief questioning look in Light's direction.

"She knows who I am," Ning said. "No problem with the three of us in here, so long as nobody barges in here suddenly."
"Well, that's what locks are for," he said, engaging the one on the door next to him and going to take care of the other entrances afterward. That done, he went over to the equipment and rubbed his hands. "Now, let's get started. What would you like to do first?"

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I've been doing a thing with the titles off and on since Episode 67, similar to the "chess titles" during the "Puppeteer arc". Once I thought of it, I realized this one was perfect for this episode. Hopefully it's clear what I mean.