Battle Vixens! - 129

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Episode 129: Flood Watch

Amory set his phone on the table between him and Blake. "Alright, you're on speakerphone."

"So—read that thing again, Clark," Rory said over the phone.
"It says..'The Army', and the coordinates are...a short way out of town, in the direction of the forest we fought the Puppeteer in. And 'The Tank', on the opposite side of town. The word 'the' links to the article listing known class-three monsters in both cases, and 'army' has links to the articles for the 'twins' and 'triplets'. And on top of those...an ominous-sounding warning: 'DO NOT allow the two to meet.'" They had received their prediction before the five monster-free hours were even up. As helpful as it was to have time to plan and get in position, the fact the Giver could predict them so far in advance probably said something about how big a deal these monsters were going to be.

Blake sighed. "Which means...we have to split into two teams."

"Four people," Rory said. "If you've got access to Gemma's powers, then you can heal someone in a pinch. Really, Magus can probably figure out how to do healing too."
"You don't think we should split up?" Clark asked her.

"I think...it's time for Quinn to make an appearance.

"If 'the tank' is a big ugly thing that tries to steamroll the town to get to 'the army', then we'll stop it dead in its tracks. If 'the army' is just a bunch of weapon-handed humanoid things, then you and Magus are pretty well-suited to keep them busy. Right?"

"That's making a lot of assumptions, but...it doesn't sound wrong, either," Blake admitted.

"Hey, we don't even have to kill 'em all, right?" Magus said. "Just keep them busy enough for the city vixens to show up. I mean, with a thunderstorm going on, there's way plenty water for Rowan to throw around!"

"We'll meet up first," Amory said. "I'll make everyone as strong as I can, and stick with Light. Rowan will reach our location first, and then I can help her, too."

"You think this will work out?" Clark asked.
"It has to," Blake answered.

---

"Come on, you big dummy. If you're gonna mope, at least do it on some cushions!" Minus had split off from Gemma as soon as she got into the door, and now she was forcibly pulling Plus off of the floor and over to the couch. Pretending to be Beryl.

She let herself be shoved down onto the couch, sitting there for a minute. "I've really, really gone crazy, haven't I?"

"Bah. Sanity's overrated!" Minus said cheerfully. "Now tell me, how are things going with that boy you like?"
Plus looked away, at the wall. "I screamed in his face for five minutes, spilled his dad's secrets, and then left after one hug."

"Well, that sounds like progress to me!" Minus came around to sit on the other side of the couch, in the same direction Plus was looking. "I mean, physical contact, right!?" She had on a wide, almost-mocking sort of grin.

"Why am I doing this to myself?"

"It must be one of two things! You either feel like you need it, or like you deserve it! If there's nobody else who'll tell you what you should hear, then it might as well be yourself, right?"

"Just...go away!"
"Awwh, I can't do that!" Minus leaned in, almost threateningly, to whisper: "You know as well as I do. Turn back to human, and I'll still be right. Here," she pointed at her own head with one index finger.

"RrrrrrRRRGH!" She did something she couldn't with the real Beryl, and tackled Minus, shoving her back hard enough that she tumbled over the end table, knocking everything on it loudly over onto the floor.

"Hhhhahahah...at least that hurt a little bit," Minus said, sitting herself up on the floor. "Now look who's sitting on the floor!" She hopped back to her feet and clapped her hands together. "Hey, aren't we hungry? Let's make something to eat!"

"I don't feel like eating anything."
"Well I do! So I'm gonna do it and I can't stop me!"

"Then go do it, and leave me alone!"

"You'll never get to be alone again, my dear."

Plus just curled back up into a ball and started sobbing again, while Minus skipped off to the kitchen and started making something.

"It's gonna be really spicy!" she called after a few minutes.
"That's great!" she yelled back, powering right through her voice cracking. "Then neither of us can eat it!"

"You'll try it once you get hungry enough. Anyway, isn't that what you want? To feel pain? To punish yourself for being such a bad person?"
"I—I'm not a bad person. I'm not!"
"That's not what you said five minutes ago! What, is it an on-again, off-again thing? You get to decide when you're bad?"

"Well obviously I don't get to decide when I feel like I am!"

"Hey, you wanna know something stupid? We've been really loud, and nobody's even shown up to complain! Fox ears, and you can't hear anyone out there at all!"
"I know—I worried so much about nothing. Again."

"Again! HAA-hahah!"

"And then, because of that, I showed just how much of a stupid jerk I can be to, like, two of the only real friends I have!"
"Not to mention Amory!"

---

Thad stayed silent during the brief phone meeting. Once his roommate hung up and took off the hat, he said: "I guess it's pretty serious this time, huh?"
"Uh..yeah," Marcus said. "I mean—it's not like it's ever not serious. I guess that's why they always seem so stressed out, you know?"
"Wish I could help a little bit more. But I guess I'll settle for cheering you guys on," he said, giving a thumbs up. Partly because of the potentially severe weather, but mostly due to the severity of the predicted attack, a warning had gone out to evacuate the area near where the "tank" would appear, and it was strongly recommended that everyone otherwise "shelter in place" until the fight was over with.

"Thanks. I'll do my best!" He took off for their meeting place after that—it wouldn't be good for 'Magus' to be late, after all.

She'd probably have to mention to them, at some point, that Thad knew who she was. Well—maybe not. After all, it didn't mean he knew anything about the rest of them, like who Light really was or whatever. He'd never have guessed who Gemma was if not for that whole thing earlier that afternoon. He went for the TV, got his computer, and set up everything to 'watch' how things went down as best as he could.

---

"...Here you go."
"Mrr~rh...aahhh." Rory grew back to her taller, stronger, curvier boosted self. "It feels just as good as the first time, doesn't it dear?" she asked while Clark was being boosted too.
"I suppose..." she answered after Amp let go. "We'll combine once that monster shows up, no sooner. Don't want to burn Quinn out before she can actually do anything."

"Yep! So—catch you three on the other side," Rory said.

They started back toward Amory's car, Amp shifting back to human form for the drive. "So like...we've got this. Right?" Magus said. "I mean, I know some spells already that can push them around, grab them, beat them up. And you're great with your swords, plus you have Ning's lightning, Rowan's water-manip, and all the uh, crazy stuff Gemma can do?" This last part came out as a question because Light seemed to take each part of that list like a slight blow to the back of her head, making her hunch over a bit more with each one.
"I don't...think I can use all that, actually."
"Why not? I mean, you got permission, right?"
"That's not really...the problem."

They got in the car, and the engine started. "So—dude, what is the problem, then?"
"Using someone else's power is...harder than it seems like it should be. It's—they're, 'heavier'. There's a resistance to it. Like it knows it isn't mine. When I'm just using a little bit, or I'm pushing really hard because I'm angry or something, I don't feel that resistance as much. But it's still, exhausting after a while.

"And the truth is...I'm already tired."
"You just finished taking a nap," Amory said, his voice concerned.
"Yeah, but—" she exhaled a sigh. "Honestly, I dunno, how much of that time I spent just staring up at the ceiling instead."
Amory deemed this worthy of taking his eyes off the road to give her a brief look.
"I know—you could've helped with that, but it mostly just felt like, I wasn't sleepy. Anyway," she continued back to Magus, "there's almost no light. Never mind all the clouds, it's nearly sunset. And, for me, it's: No light, no power. And, really, I'm exhausted from more than that. It's...I'm tired from people depending on me. People propping me up with their words. People looking at me like, some kind of ideal. And..."

She paused for a moment, visibly trying to grasp at something that felt ineffable. "Ning needed my sense of control, so I gave it to her; she needed to not have her power, so I took it. Emma's...fighting the one thing nobody else can help her beat; it was horrible to watch, and it's just as awful to think about. It's exhausting being the one people depend on to save them, and it's even more exhausting not being able to save someone. But I won't stop trying, no matter what. I can't—because I'm needed, and I need to be a 'hero'. Because, nobody else..." she trailed off, still not quite arriving at the thing she'd really wanted to express.

"Hey," Magus said. "Gemma told you to use her power 'however you need to', right? But that doesn't mean you gotta be the one to carry it. If it's such a heavy burden...then why not, let me borrow it instead? I mean, can your powers do that?"
"Hmm. If I can make it work for me, then I don't see why not. Let's try..." She recited a phrase, and a grayish blur moved from her into Magus.
"Whoa!"

"Did it work?"
What had just been conferred by that glow was, for Magus, somewhat overwhelming and difficult to properly describe. But at the very least, she felt energized and powerful, able to do a lot of things she couldn't have before, in ways that didn't even entirely make sense to her. "Totally!"
"Good, I guess."

---

Plus and Minus were sitting across from each other at the kitchen table with a plate of food in between them. Plus was glaring silently across, while Minus kept forcing extremely-spicy chunks of meat through her mouth and exaggeratedly pretending to enjoy it. All four of their eyes had tears coming out of them—not because of emotion this time, but rather capsaicin.

Both of them jumped in surprise at a slight, quiet knock on the door. "Gemma, hey." It was Light's voice. "You uh..left your phone, so I brought it here. I'll just...set it on the mat, and go. There's no one else out here right now, okay?"

"...Okay," Plus said at a near-whisper.

After they listened to her footsteps leave, she said: "This is stupid. Beryl wouldn't do any of this."
"Of course not. 'Cause this is stupid," Minus said, dropping what was in her hand to pound the table with that fist. "And that's one thing she's not. I just found a really creative way to wallow in self-pity, I guess." She shoved the plate aside.

Plus leaned onto her arms, which were crossed over the table. "Why am like this?"

Minus imitated this posture perfectly. "If I could answer that, I wouldn't be asking."

"I guess one of me had better go get that, huh?—" —If I didn't manage to break it, I'd feel really dumb about getting it stolen now."

Plus sighed, picking herself up with some exaggerated effort and going to the door. Minus stood up afterward, following her and stepping back together into one body while she opened it to retrieve the phone.

---

"So...it's time to acknowlege that I might not live through this," Rory said. They were standing a short distance from where her husband had parked, looking out in the direction the 'tank' was supposed to appear in.

"You mean, we might not?"
"No—just me. Look, we'll be combined for a while, and during that we'll be invincible. But at some point it'll probably get to be too exhausting, and I'll be the one who still has energy to spare. That means...you go somewhere else to hide, and I borrow your powers to keep up the fight. If nobody shows up to help in time, then it's my life that's the most at-risk."

"I despise how sensible you're being about this," Clark said.

"I just want to ask...you didn't handle it so well the last time I risked my life and it went poorly. You think you'll do any better this time?"
"...I doubt it. So, you'd better not die."

"Hahah. And you told me I was the dominant one in our partnership!" she said. "Tell you what, if we both survive, and we've got any energy left at all...let's go back to doing what we used to do nearly every night. Eh?" She gently elbowed Clark, making the shorter girl blush.

"S-sure..."
"Hahah!: Rory lauged, grinning wide. "That outghta motivate me to keep going!"

---

Light picked Amp up in a hug while she was being petted, then gently set her down again once it was over. "..Thanks."
"No problem...I guess it's the most I can do," she said. "Aside from wandering around the battlefield to distract the monsters into failing to hit me, I guess."
"We're...not at that stage yet."

Amp paused, looking Magus's way. "...Hmm."
"What?"
"It's just...since you're borrowing Emma's power, I wonder...you mind if I try something?"

Magus headtilted slightly. "Nnno, I guess not."

The blond vixen gently pulled herself around Magus in a hug, then moved her fingers up to the tips of her ears. Magus jumped slightly and then shivered, feeling like the semi-unfamiliar power in her was responding to the touch. It somehow made her ears all the more sensitive, as Amory moved her fingers up to their bases under the hat. A faint grayish glow came from her body, and she grew slightly taller, her bust expanding out just slightly as well—and then it was done: That borrowed power felt even stronger than it had before. She even had the sense that she was physically stronger and more agile, and had more capacity for her more of her own kind of spellcasting!

Amp let go and hopped back. "Holy cow, I feel amazing!" the girl in the hat declared.

"Glad that worked. I guessed it might be possible because you're connected to her, through Emma's power. Just...keep in mind that my boosts are temporary, and don't feel so great when they wear off."
"Yeah, got it!" Magus gave a thumbs-up. "We're gonna do it, Light!" she declared, giving a big grin. "Let's save everyone!"

"Yeah...let's," she nodded.

---

"'Just a hydra'?" Rowan repeated.
"Aaand a few other stray Class 1's scattered around," Petra said. "So, nothing we haven't handled before, even with less people. I say go for it, boss!"
"Alright. I'll see you all later."

"Look, once we cut off the last of those heads, we're coming up right behind you. Got it?"

"...Yes. Thank you. I'll be assisting Light, so you should make your way to where the Quinns are."

Petra clapped to get everyone's attention. "Alright alright! Dawn, Pheonix—you both ready to rise?"
Dawn nodded; Cynthia said, "Sure. Even if it is rainin' even harder'n before out there."

"You need a roof to light a fire under, I'll make you one. So here's what we're gonna do: Tora, Fay, Warp, Zeno, and you, my dear—" (she said, gesturing to Karis) "—are on class-one cleanup! Slam those things out of existence before they can even think about fusing or causing any other kinda trouble, teleport everyone from one to the next if it'll get you there faster, and regroup with the rest of us once they're all dead.

"Everyone else is with me. Sam's gonna tangle that thing's heads up so the rest of us can chop 'em off, smash 'em, and incinerate them. Remember if you kill the main body, all the heads jump off at once, so let's not do that 'till there's only a few left. And when that thing's down, everyone who can still fight is piling into some vans to go help Light's team—and the boss—out. Got it?"
A chorus of voices—half or so of them on her phone—gave assent at varying levels of energy.
"Okay then—let's go, let's go!"

---

If you've been paying attention to the little "writing status" thing in the sidebar, you might have wondered why this episode's been "in editing" since the last chunk of episodes posted. Basically, I wanted to give this one several passes alongside writing the next few episodes to make sure that certain things lined up just right. And...you probably know what that means. As a reminder (because I always get these confused), a severe weather "watch" means that it's likely to happen soon, but hasn't been seen yet.

An early concept-draft of Light's conversation around the middle of this episode had her referencing The Avengers, saying something like "You know how the Hulk's always angry? Well, I'm always tired." But it just didn't flow with the way the conversation wound up actually going.