Battle Vixens! - 107

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Episode 107: Fuel for the Fight

For as much as he evidently wanted a free meal, Simon still seemed very insistent that the food would be paid for by someone. He smoothly rejected the restaurant owner's offer to give everyone free food, and moved on to the topic of getting them a relatively deserted corner to eat in, supposedly so they wouldn't be bothered by any fans. Actually, it provided a reasonably private place to talk about the discovery he'd teased over the phone.

"Hmm. Of course." Ezekiel nodded to himself. "As it happens, Magus can manipulate her hat's appearance in either form as well."

"You seem a lot less surprised than I was," Karis said.

"Magic, or powers—whatever you prefer to call it—is something that wells up intrinsically from one's being," he said. "It depends on your beliefs, personality, willpower, and so on. A priori, there's no reason to assume that it would only work in an 'alternate form' in the first place. Perhaps if we'd discovered it entirely independently, keys would be able to be used just once to initiate one's powers permanently, and then discarded afterward."
Clark leaned in a little. "So you're saying—the Giver 'poisoned the well', so to speak?"
He nodded. "She set artificial restrictions on how the powers of those she 'blessed' could work, and in so doing gave essentially all of humanity the impression that magic must naturally work that way. However, it's possible that those like you and Magus, awakened without her help, can 'get over' those restrictions entirely with some time and effort."

"So, I could cast spells in human form?" the vixen in the hat said excitedly.
"Have you ever actually tried to before?" Karis asked.
"Uhh..nope. I just, kindaaaa, assumed that I couldn't," she said, shrugging sheepishly.

"I won't speculate on your 'real identity', but I'd guess you're not in any scientific field," she replied. "Never assume, always test."

"Hey, none of my other powers work as a human. Like, I'm not super strong or fast, and I definitely can't summon a sword outta thin air."

"You'd have to find something else to use as a wand then, maybe," Clark said. "A meterstick?"

"Nah, I'm sure I could find something cooler than that to use. Even just like, a regular stick maybe."

"Well...don't blame me if you get splinters," he said with a small shrug.

---

Light leaned down over the table and groaned, head in hands, ears folded back. "Never should've agreed to this." They hadn't been able to get very far out of the building before being accosted by people left and right. Rory did a decent job of clearing the way, of course, but that didn't mean Light could just ignore every person who only had a small question or a simple request.
"Hey, it's your own fault for being so aloof for so long. If 'Light' was known for taking walks, eating dinners out, and just being in public a little more often, everyone would've pretty much left us alone—like they do me and my husband." They'd found a restaurant as promised, but it had been a much longer trip to reach it than expected.
"You can get away with threatening to literally throw people off your lawn." Light was the one who'd asked if they could use an upstairs room to eat in peace instead of staying in the big, loud main dining area below with everyone staring at her.

"...Is that something I actually did once?" Dr. Quinn gave it a good headtilt. "Don't remember anything like that."

The white-haired vixen shook her head. "..Nevermind."

"Anyway, all most people ever see of you is a monster—sometimes supervillain—fighting machine. But they all know there must be more to you than that. Can you really blame someone for being curious? Interested? Wanting an autograph"
"Nnngh, no. I—look, I get it. I know, if I keep—trying to be a hero, then I can't blame people for seeing me as one, and...wanting to know more about me. But I can't tell people much of anything anyway, not more than I already said at that interview. The whole point of a secret identity is keeping it a secret. I can't talk in depth about my powers wihtout exposing my weaknesses to people who might wanna kill me. I can't say how I do things others can't because that's other people's secrets."

"You could talk about your interest in superhero comics and stuff, right? The population of comic nerds is at least in the billions, especially these days—soo, wouldn't really give much away, would it?"
"Not unless I'm specific about my tastes, like anyone actually talking about them would be. What'm I supposed to say—" She mimed an exchange: "'Oh I like comics'. 'Yeah, which ones?' 'Oh, you know, the good ones.' I'd feel like an idiot. Anyway, I don't want my tastes dictating what's popular or whatever. Just because I say I don't like something, suddenly everyone treats me like an expert and they just, stop making it? I don't wanna mess up something someone else likes like that."

"You might be overestimating your influence there, dear. I know you're one of the most famous vixens around, but you're far from the only very famous one. Did you know Petra said the Mona Lisa was stupid?"

Light sat up. "What, really?"
"Yes! Well, it was an offhand comment she hasn't really had a chance to elaborate on since. But people didn't stop packing the Louvre to see it just because of that. And Simon actually is an art expert, being an artist and all."

---

Ning stood up and clapped her hands a couple of times. "Alright everyone, we're getting pretty close to when the second attack might be imminent. And I've still got most of a store to unpack. If you got some last-minute purchases to make, come on up—but otherwise, I gotta kick ya'll on out."

The customers all more or less obliged, either heading for the counter or the door. Within a few more minutes they were gone, and she hurried over to the front door, turning over a makeshift cardboard sign to its 'closed' side and locking up.

"...Phew." She turned around and stretched, then started off toward the back.
"I s'pose you ain't just gonna sit and wait for an alarm, then?" Sam said.
"Nope. Sooner I get this done, the less I have to worry about later."
"Could you use any help? I ain't an expert in none of this, but I can pick things up and move 'em around."

"Sure, sure. I appreciate the offer. Maybe treat you to a dinner or something as thanks, later—since I'll be making money offa this eventually." Sam nodded, not necessarily accepting or rejecting the offer for the moment, and hopped down off of her stool to follow the other vixen.

"Does it still feel surreal to you, having an attack that threatens everyone's lives just be a part'a the day's routine?"
"Oh, absolutely," Ning said. "That won't stop me from working hard, though. This disaster is temporary—it has to be. Someday that black mist thing will give up on our world, and we can go back to business as usual. But that won't do us any good if we forget what that's supposed to be like."

"Won't do no good if everyone starts squabblin' over our powers, neither," Sam said. "What would you do if the military tried to draft you, along with all other American vixens, into service? 'Defendin' the nation' and all?"
"I'd tell them I'm waayy too far over the legal enlistment age, and they can go pack sand anyway. If the rule of law don't survive this disaster, then we failed just as much as if that thing did destroy the whole entire world."

Sam nodded. "I doubt the US would try that anyway. More likely, offer a special position with generous pay to anyone with powers who'll volunteer to fight. No matter what, though, this magic business will completely change the face of war."
"You think there has to be war, after this? After the entire world worked together to take down...basically an extraterrestrial, existential threat to all of humanity?"

"They'll be another war, trust me. Big chunk of the world workin' together to destroy Hitler didn't stop that chunk from breakin' into pieces before the man was even dead," Sam said. "If there's a light at the end of the tunnel, it'll be a signal to some nations to go back to business as usual, only with some brand new hardware."

"Shame." Ning sighed. "Maybe in a couple centuries, some folks being immortal will let us stop making the same mistakes—assuming anyone actually survives long enough to cash in that immortality.

"...Baaah, I can't talk about this anymore! You've got a family, right? What're they like?"

---

Everyone stayed around the table at the restaurant for a little longer after the food was all gone, just talking. Magus seemed to be having a great time, although Clark could tell that she was still fairly exhausted from the morning. He felt..fine, as far as that went—it had taken a bit out of him to get Karis stable, but not so much that a good meal and a little rest couldn't get him back on his feet.

Simon and Karis were like a comedy duo, the overconfident man with the woman constantly jabbing holes in his ego and bringing him back down to earth. It was hard for Clark to tell if this was a performance they gave in public to entertain people, or just...how they always interacted with each other, audience or no. But it was obvious enough that, no matter how wounded he pretended to be, Simon was having a good time—he genuinely appreciated, maybe enjoyed, even her sharpest barbs. Overall, he was glad she'd managed to survive, and that he'd played a part in that. From seeing their dynamic, it was hard to imagine what Simon would be like if he'd actually lost her.

...Clark certainly knew what it was like to almost lose someone like that.

Ezekiel was quiet for most of the conversation, seemingly content to fall into the background and watch everyone else talk. He had occasional input, but seemed to adjust his glasses more often than speak ever since the topic of magic rolled out of the conversation.

The good times were interrupted by an alarm from nearly everyone's phones at once: A warning of the next attack. Ezekiel immediately leaned forward, pressed his hands on the table and immediately pushed himself up onto his feet. "Excuse me," he said quickly, "I need to get as far away from the danger zone as possible, as quick as I can. Those things have displayed a slight tendency to specifically target members of our department when the opportunity arises." Nodding to everyone once more, he quickly fled his way out of the building.

"I got the bill!" Simon said, waving a card at a waiter. "I'll get them to reimburse me later, don't you worry. Gotta take this too." He got out and answered his phone in a single motion, set it to speakerphone, then quickly slid it across the table with enough force for it to keep spinning for a few seconds after it stopped near the center. "What've we got, Rowan?"

---

The alarms went off almost as soon as Light finished eating. "So much for having some time between eating and fighting," she said. "Whatever—I don't think I get cramps like this anyway."
"Fox-girl anatomy isn't that different from human," Rory said. "Anyway, it might not already be appearing yet, you know."
"Yeah, yeah..." She had out her phone. "Hmmh. One on the street right outside, one over near Ning's new store. Like they followed us or something."
"They're a bit random too, right? Might just be coincidences."
"Either way, we need to get out there, now." Light hopped onto her feet.

"Whatever you say, 'leader'."
"I'm not—" she cut this off with a sigh, since Rory was now laughing at her reaction. "I'll, focus on illusions and lasers so I can donate you a sword," she said, "at least 'till Gemma gets here."
"Works for me!"

---

Amp reached over and rubbed Emma's ears a little wither her fingers, drawing a soft "Mrr~rrh" as the two-tailed vixen grew into her stronger form. "Looks like we've got a 'Shiva' around here. Uhm, that's the six-armed thing that..."
Gemma opened her eyes again, nodding. "That ate me before."
"You gonna be okay?"
She nodded. "Not just me and Light this time, and no puppets to screw everything up. You..wanna help make them stronger, though?" Amp nodded. "Here.."

In short order, Emma picked up the short, blonde vixen in her arms—one behind the middle of her back, and the other beneath her knees. "H-heheh..." Amp giggled softly, blushing, and she couldn't help returning both before forcing a serious-business frown back onto her face, nodding, and going to run out of the building and toward the monster's predicted position, using an imitation of Light's illusions to hide the girl in her arms—and the fact she was carrying someone at all—from everyone else's view.

"Why didn't we start doing this earlier?" she whispered between breaths. "It's not exactly hard for Light to keep everyone from seeing you."
"She might get knocked out or something," Amp muttered back. "But—I agree, it makes sense to just bring me to the fight. Even if someone does see me, we'll figure something out."

---

"S'pose that's our cue," Sam said.
"Yep. Right outside my doorstep, no less." Ning ran to the front of her store to get outside, the gray-haired vixen not far behind her. She got her phone back out after shutting and locking the door, looking at what they were going to be up against. "Looks like it's—those deer-things that like to bash their heads into buildings? Rrrgh, why do I keep getting the fast vandals today?"

"Everyone clear the area!" Sam announced aloud, drawing some steel wire out into her hands. "Got some traps to set."

---

There were three attacks coming in the city: Two small-scale threats set to appear relatively close the VI's headquarters, but on opposite sides—and one big one, practically right on top of the restaurant Simon and his wife were just now on their way out of—along with Clark (now back in fox form) and Magus, of course.

Since Simon was busy coordinating things with his boss, Dr. Quinn asked Magus, who had her phone out by now: "You know anything about what we're up against?"
"Hoboy..yeah. The uhhh, hecka-ton-cherries?"
"Hecatoncheires," Karis said, "Greek mythology? Simon drew something like that once, and wouldn't shut up about it. Fifty heads and a hundred hands."
"Yeeeaah, something like that. But also like, way worse?" She showed both of them some blurry pictures of long, stretched-out-looking arms ending in unnatural appendages: Weapon-like black shapes, tentacles, clawed hand-like things, animal-like heads with their own sets of razor-sharp teeth.

"Alrighty, got it." Simon hung up and immediately spoke the phrase to shift forms. "Okay, sooo, the whole block's under an evacuation order, 'cause we've got a big guy to deal with. Zeno's coming our way to support, but it's too much for just four or five vixens no matter what. Goal is to stall it out, don't let it out of this block, minimize the damage to the buildings, and don't get killed or eaten. I'll take point and give it a pit to fall into, but need everyone else to box it in and draw aggro. Once the others take their targets down, they'll come to us and we stomp that thing out together. Cool? Cool."

"Cool," Karis said. "You're both in on this fight, orrrr, planning to get out while the getting out's good?"
"I agreed to help out on this end, since Sam's protecting my home," Clark said, raising her hand to bring out a couple of puppets, flanking her on either side. "Magus? Are you okay to fight?"
"Yeah, totally!" She put on a big, brave grin with a slight crack of falsehood to it—hiding some fear. "I feel great!"
"Very well, but—don't push yourself too hard," she said sternly. "Fall back if you start to feel exhausted."

"Sure, sure," she nodded.

---

"Hugo, Tora, Nico, Warp: Head for the threat on the west side. Fay, Cynthia: With me, to the east."

"Got it, boss!"

"I'm on my way."

"I'll be there."

Rowan changed form and headed for the VI headquarter's front door, the redheaded fire-wielding vixen following close behind her. "Some specific reason for sendin' people out in those sets?" she asked.

"Zeno's already close to the larger threat, and they need as much help as can be spared. Teams of three are enough to mop up the other ones."
"And I'm stuck with you 'caauuse...?"

"I assured Dawn I'd keep you safe. Moreover, Fay and I are mobile and flexible. You do what comes naturally, and we'll work around it. Just don't take any unnecessary risks, and this should go smoothly."

"You like people callin' you 'boss'?"
"Not particularly. That is why they keep doing it."