A/N: Thanks again to Waela (FFnet), Elsannity (FFnet), Justherefortheride (FFnet), and SexyMist (Discord) for betaing my work.
Four and a Half Years Ago
Anna has been through a lot of situations. She's dealt with so many variations of emotional and physical stress that she can hardly keep up, yet there's nothing in her past that compares to this. She doesn't have any mantras or coping strategies, and saying 'Athena protect me' is so ironic it hurts.
Anna closes her eyes and thunks the back of her head repeatedly on the wall behind her. She's been sitting outside Maleficent's room for the better part of an hour, aware the dragon will wake up soon, but that knowledge only makes her feel worse. She tries telling herself that it's because of the challenger bout, which is a factor, but she knows herself too well to think it's the only one.
The image of Maleficent's teeth sinking into her skin floods Anna's brain, and it sends a bolt of anxiety into her gut.
Anna clenches her jaw and hits her head harder on the wall.
It was my choice, she thinks, and tears sting her eyes. It was my choice.
The familiar buzz of dread seeps into Anna's bones and she has half a mind to punch herself to get her head on straight. Emotions should follow the logic her brain decides is truth, right? Rebelling emotions . . . well, Anna can't fix that by herself, and drugs don't work on her.
But variations do, her brain supplies, and she slams her head into the wall so hard her vision darkens for a second.
With a sigh, Anna slides down the wall until she's sitting with her forehead resting on her knees.
"Athena preserve me," she murmurs out of habit, and that twists the knife that's already in her heart.
Jennifer is right to hate her, isn't she? Surely if she saw the same connection Anna did she wouldn't be as mad as she is? That means the connection doesn't exist, and that Anna's brain is making it up to justify her actions.
Only it doesn't feel made up.
And now that the dragon pheromones are starting to settle she can see the situation with more clarity than she wanted.
I was taken advantage of, Anna thinks, and she leans back to whip her head into the wall again. Her vision suffers for a moment. It might not have been Maleficent's initial intention, her thoughts continue, and she cracks her head against the wall once more, but she turned the situation into what she wanted. I was in no mental state to make that decision, so she made it for me. Only she chose what she wanted, not what I wanted.
"Shut up!" Anna shouts, using the momentum from a blast of fire to hit her skull off the wall with more force.
It should be easy to understand. Maleficent has always been an unpredictable liability, even after becoming an Elite, but somewhere along the line Anna started caring. And the thought that Maleficent, a fellow teammate and friend, would do that to her is . . . unacceptable.
The other Elites aren't acknowledging it, Anna thinks, which means you should take the hint and ignore it, too.
Anna stands once more and starts pacing. Her balance is just off enough to be noticeable and she's pretty sure there's a wet patch of hair on the back of her head, but she doesn't stop.
God, just fucking kill me, Anna thinks, loud enough to stop her in her tracks. She rubs her face and realizes it's wet. She didn't even know she was crying. This isn't healthy. What I'm doing, what's been done; it isn't healthy. At least she has the mental capacity to recognize that.
"Calhoun," she murmurs, and her voice sounds so dead it's eerie. "Where's Jen?"
"She's gathering information," Calhoun replies. She sounds concerned. "She's been doing it for hours. She needs to eat, but she hasn't touched anything James or Elinor have brought to her."
"She's a big girl," Anna sighs. "She can torture herself if she likes."
"Like you?"
Anna flicks her gaze away, even though she wasn't looking anywhere near a camera to begin with. "Yeah," she says. "Like me."
"This is ridiculous," Calhoun says. "You know that, right? That what you two are doing is inane?"
"What am I supposed to do?" Anna spits. "She won't look at me. She won't talk to me. She won't—"
"She's victim blaming and you know it," Calhoun barks. Then she laughs, sharp and degrading. "Or maybe you don't know that. It wouldn't be past you to blame yourself to alleviate guilt from someone else. Is it easier that way, hating yourself instead of a teammate?"
"Stop," Anna says. "Maleficent didn't do anything wrong."
"She didn't initially intend to do anything wrong," Calhoun corrects, and the familiar phrasing puts a rock in Anna's gut. "And you saw that, so you accepted the bite. You had no prior evidence to suggest the pheromones would twist your judgement. But it did. And Maleficent capitalized on it."
"I don't want to talk about this," Anna grits.
"Who would?" Calhoun counters. "You were hurt by someone close to you, and you aren't getting the right support from anyone else. Sometimes I swear to god you five are the stupidest metas in the whole universe."
A small, mirthless smile curls Anna's lips. "By the attitude, is it safe to assume you already tried talking to Jen?"
"It's like talking to a brick," Calhoun gripes. "God, would it have hurt her to take after her mother? No, that basket fell onto James' sarcastic head, and that idiot is too lazy to listen."
"It's not a bad thing Jen took after Darryl," Anna says as she leans against the wall and crosses her arms over her chest. "Sure he's not cozy to be around, but I get along with him well enough."
"Decades of villainy don't just get flushed down the toilet, Anna," Calhoun says, "and we have no idea what he was like during Jennifer's childhood. It's more than possible she inherited his less desirable attributes."
Anna frowns. "I know she has issues. Everyone does. But it's not like she's not getting help for it." Granted, she only started getting help after she almost collapsed Anna's rib cage during a sparring match. James had confronted her about it, and in the end Jen agreed to take anger management classes and go to regular therapy sessions.
"And she's gotten much better," Calhoun admits, "but that doesn't stop her from hurting you like this."
"This is a pretty extreme situation," Anna says.
"Your lives are the very definition of extreme situations," Calhoun counters. "You've been trained to deal with the unexpected, and the other Elites are expected to do the same. Jennifer isn't an exception to that rule."
But she's used to knowing everything, Anna thinks, but she doesn't say that. She just closes her eyes and rests her forehead against the wall.
Jennifer's information vision is a blessing and a curse, Anna knows. It lets Jennifer figure out almost everything about a person's life, but it doesn't factor in how those elements change based on different circumstances. The problem is that she knows so much, and that makes it hard for her to adapt and accept things she doesn't know, especially if she was taken off guard.
Anna stands in the middle ground of those two worlds. Sometimes Jennifer looks at her and is able to see everything, and sometimes she looks and it's as if there's nothing there. Jennifer's gotten better at accepting that over the years but sometimes, like now, she hates her as if she's Anna's embodiment of her weakness.
It's not very healthy, Anna thinks, and finds herself chuckling. What part of this lifestyle is healthy? She's almost died more times than she can count, and she must be a mass murderer by now with all the lives she's taken. Would she even be able to function in a normal relationship anymore? Would anyone who hasn't killed even be able to accept her or what she's done?
"Heroes are fucked up," Anna says, still chuckling. "If only people knew. 'Heroes utilize villain tactics!' Can you imagine that headline? My god, there'd be a riot."
"Would it matter if there was?" Calhoun asks.
"It would to me," Anna says. "Earth is my home and I want to keep it safe and happy. No one on this planet that matters will be happy if the League doesn't uphold its reputation. Everyone knows we're metas capable of doing a great number of things, but we've held firm in our stance of protection, at least in the eyes of the media. We need it to stay like that."
"We do, or you do?"
Anna doesn't answer for a couple of seconds, then she sighs. "It's for the best of everyone in the League. I get that the others don't really care all that much about it sometimes, but that's their histories talking, not their present experiences. I know they can see the benefit of being in people's good graces."
"They also see the benefit of murder, which you've never told them to stop doing," Calhoun replies. "I think that's a key factor in why they're so amiable about your version of PR."
"And the fact that I'm less overbearing than Jen," Anna huffs.
"Of course," Calhoun laughs. "No one wants Jennifer breathing down their neck. Except maybe you when you're having sex with her."
"Calhoun!" Anna yelps. "I'm not talking about that with you!"
"You say that like I can't see you doing it or re-watch literally any security footage," Calhoun drones.
Anna steps away from the wall and glares at the closest camera. "You better not have, you dirty old perv."
Calhoun laughs harder. "Okay fine, no I didn't. The old AI Computer does. What?" she adds when Anna makes a face. "Someone has to make sure you're okay at all times if it's not me. And I don't look in those situations unless I'm alerted to trouble in your location. I don't think I could talk with you normally if I caught sight of your private parts. Or Jennifer going down on you."
"Why am I the only one you'd think of differently in that scenario? I'm pretty sure Jen has private parts too."
"Pretty sure?" Calhoun repeats, and her laughter increases tenfold. "How are you only 'pretty sure'? Do you not know the difference between a penis and a vagina? Hint: the one you finger is the latter, and I'm pretty sure that's what you do to Jennifer."
"I don't even want to know why you two are talking about this."
Anna whips around and, sure enough, Jennifer is right there. Anna bets Calhoun started this topic on purpose, just to make things more tense and awkward than they needed to be.
"I don't see why you wouldn't considering how you like throwing your tits around like you own the place," Calhoun remarks.
Jennifer frowns in the general direction of a camera. "You are intent on annoying the piss out of me today, aren't you?"
"You annoy the piss out of everyone every day," Calhoun deadpans. "It's about time you had your turn."
"Calhoun," Anna says, "do me a favour and ignore us like you do when we're having sex."
"Why?" Calhoun asks. "Are you planning on doing her in the hallway?"
"No," Anna says with forced patience. "I'm planning on having a personal conversation that doesn't involve you talking about my fiancée's tits or getting on her nerves any more than you already have."
"She deserves it," Calhoun scoffs.
"I don't fucking care," Anna grits. "Shut. Up."
Anna and Jennifer wait for the inevitable retort, but Calhoun only sighs. They wait a couple more seconds before Jennifer nods her chin towards the wall. "That blood is fresh," she says. "Is it yours?"
Anna looks at the wall. She hadn't even noticed the blood. "I guess," she supposes, even though she's the only person who's been in this hallway since she got here. She runs her fingers on the back of her head and brings it back around to look at them. Her fingertips have blood on them. Yeah, it's me, she thinks, but instead of saying that she asks, "Why are you here?"
A muscle in Jennifer's jaw jumps and her gaze flicks to the door leading to Maleficent's main room. "Her vitals changed. She's waking up."
"Cool," Anna murmurs. She was already aware of Maleficent's changing vitals, but she doesn't mention it. If she does she'd have to admit it was instinctual, and she doesn't want to throw more fuel on Jennifer's raging hate boner.
Jennifer purses her lips. "You're not going to ask me what I'm going to do?"
"You weren't very receptive to that line of conversation last time we spoke. Didn't see a need for a repeat performance," Anna replies. She notes with some bitterness that Jennifer still isn't looking her in the eye. "Why, do you want me to ask?"
Jennifer frowns. "Not really. I'm just surprised you didn't bring it up."
"Mm," Anna hums as she leans her shoulder against the wall and crosses her arms over her chest. "Like I said, didn't see a point."
Jennifer's hands twitch. "You're planning on protecting her from me, aren't you?"
Calhoun's words from earlier swirl in Anna's brain and she huffs a soft sigh through her nose. If it's anything like last time, what I plan to do might not mean a damn thing, Anna thinks. A thought followed by: Then why were you waiting for Maleficent alone? "I didn't have a choice," she utters, but didn't she? She might have followed instinct to come down here, but she could've asked for backup.
Jennifer's eyes flash and, for the first time in days, she meets Anna's gaze. Anna half smiles, but more out of instinct than in response to the glower being levelled her way.
"Everyone has a choice," Jennifer grinds, "and that's why I'm so fucking mad at you, but you can't seem to get that through your head."
"Okay, first off, I wasn't even talking to you," Anna snaps. "Secondly, I get why you're angry. Really, I do, I just don't understand why you're so hung up on what happened that you're completely unwilling to—"
"You cheated on me with the one fucking person who couldn't possibly give a damn about you!" Jennifer bellows. "That alone? You know what, fine, whatever. But you care about her like that and fucking hell that hurts. What makes it worse is that I don't even understand what you see in her, because if I could see it too then maybe I'd get it but I don't."
Anna waits to see if her fiancée mentions anything else, anything pertaining to what Maleficent did, but she doesn't. The League leader sighs and looks away. She doesn't answer. The dragon pheromones stirring in her blood are distracting her anyway.
"So you're ignoring me now?" Jennifer asks.
"No," Anna says. "Just not talking."
That gets Jennifer's attention. She turns to Anna with a frown and, for the first time, actually gives her future wife a once over. "Do you have a concussion?"
"Probably. I used a big enough explosion."
Jennifer's frown deepens. "A big enough explosion for what?"
Anna sends a pointed look to the blood drying on the wall. "You never stop getting demons in this line of work. Guess that makes sense." She turns her sight away. "But if I had known the biggest one would become my own head I don't think I would've become a hero." The pheromones inside her body lurch again, and she sighs. She's running out of time. "Let me just say I get why you're angry. I told you what happened while the initial spike of pheromones was still high in my system.
"They encouraged me to . . . accept, I suppose," she continues. "Made me soften the wording of my explanation. So in your eyes I don't think you believe Maleficent did anything wrong. But she did. You'd have seen it if you had stopped seething and thought about it or opened yourself to listening, because Calhoun saw it. She could've told you." She drops her head to look at her own shoes. "Maybe that's the reason you didn't listen to her, because that's what she was trying to explain and you weren't ready to 'let me off so easy'."
Jennifer's eyebrows furrow and she takes a half step forward, but doesn't make any other attempt to reach out. "This wasn't about punishing you, Anna, if that's what you think. That's not why I've been avoiding you."
"I know that," Anna says. The pheromones kick in once more, and heat flushes her skin. She grits her teeth and nods her chin to the door. Or, at least, the relevant door. Anna never really understood why Maleficent wanted both rooms on this floor, or why the League granted her request. "She's awake."
Jennifer's eyes widen and she whips around as if she expected the dragon to be right behind her, then she frowns. "Did you calculate the exact time she'd rouse?"
"No. Too many unknown factors to consider," Anna says despite a longer explanation resting on her tongue. She won't have time to get into it. "I couldn't even predict the exact day she'd awake."
Jennifer crosses her arms over her chest and levels Anna with an expectant look. "But you're here now." It isn't a question, but Anna knows her fiancée expects an answer.
"Dragon pheromones," Anna states as if it explains everything. To her, at least, it does. Jennifer looks skeptical.
"Explain?" Jennifer asks after a few seconds of awkward silence drag between them.
Anna sighs and rubs her temples. Her body is getting far too warm for comfort, and that's saying something. Are the pheromones affecting her heat resistance or is this something else entirely? "The pheromones react to Maleficent, I think, and when they become active they compel me to do things. I don't know the specifics. I do know that my body is trying to suppress the pheromones, but now that they're fully permanent it's harder to deal with. Or maybe it's just harder with Maleficent around to prevent them from going stagnant."
"That . . . doesn't explain much of anything," Jennifer says, but her voice isn't as harsh as it was before. "What are you hiding?"
One of the doors opens and Maleficent, with a messy head of hair and wrinkled clothes, staggers into the hall. After a moment of looking between the other two heroes, a smug smile curls her lips. "Ah, the smell of victory." She pokes a finger into Jennifer's chest. "Are you here to concede?"
Jennifer scowls. "I'd never concede to you, reptile."
"Shame," Maleficent hums. She turns to Anna with a smirk. "Don't I get a proper greeting?"
Heat flares between Anna's legs, but she refuses to acknowledge it. She knows it's not her own body making that hormonal decision. "Trying to force me again?" She huffs an empty laugh. "It's like you don't know me at all."
Maleficent frowns. "Able to resist already, huh? I guess I underestimated you." She smiles. "But no matter. I can—"
"You can," Anna interrupts. "You can up the intensity and override my will. You'll be able to do it that way continuously and presumably without fail for some time, but one day my resistance will get high enough to negate even your best shot. What then? If you don't garner my good will by that point I can guarantee you won't survive very long."
Maleficent's smile morphs into a toothy grin. "Oh, this side of you is a turn-on. Tell me, would you like to set that ferocity on another? I'd love to teach you how to murder properly." She flashes her grin at Jennifer. "Your corpse would be a nice sight, Big J."
Jennifer steps in-between the pair with her palms aimed at the chests of both Maleficent and Anna. Anna knows the action is more of a threat than a plea for them to stop. "Before either of you speak further on that," the heaven hero says, "I need to know. Anna, what do you mean by 'override your will'?"
"I'd suggest keeping your nose out of it, little girl," Maleficent purrs as she runs a finger from Jennifer's elbow to the tip of her finger. "I hear the truth hits harder than lies."
"Anna," Jennifer grits, even as she glares at Maleficent. "Explain."
"If you want to hear it, you hear it from Calhoun," Anna says, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice. "After all, she's been the one who's been trying to tell you all along."
Muscles in Jennifer's neck flare and twitch, but her agitation doesn't show past the angry mask on her face. "Fine. Calhoun!" she shouts, far louder than necessary. "I know you're listening. Tell me."
"Really, doll," Maleficent laughs, "if you haven't figured it out by now, I bet that's because your brain refused to process it. Leave well enough alone."
"Calhoun, tell me!" Jennifer roars.
"Mm," Calhoun hums. "If I were the vindictive sort I suppose I'd tell you to figure it out yourself, but that haughty look on Maleficent's face is enough to give anyone a change of heart. So, here's the scoop: when Maleficent first injected the pheromones they amplified the lingering endorphins in Anna's system because of her earlier . . . activities, and it basically acted like ecstasy."
Jennifer's eyes harden. "I suspected this already. It isn't news."
"Maybe not," Calhoun says, "but you're assuming Anna's resistance to toxins would've made her immune. It didn't. It was potent enough to knock her off her feet as surely as normal ecstasy does on regular humans. So tell me, would you trust a regular human under that influence to make choices, especially with someone around who wishes to take advantage of the situation?"
Maleficent laughs. "Please, Calhoun. If I wanted to force myself on Anna I would've done far more than grope her."
Jennifer's nostrils flare and her eyes burn with rage. "You raped her."
"Hardly," Maleficent huffs. She lays a hand on her chest and her lips curl into a dangerous smile. "Trust me, I've done that enough times to know the difference. Anna here was both willing and kept her integrity. If she was forced into the matter, I'm sure we'd be having a very different conversation right now. Or, should I say, you would have murdered me while I hibernated."
"God, you're fucking insane," Anna airs. She clenches her teeth and collapses to one knee. Her control over the pheromones is slipping. "I finally understand why everyone you've ever loved says you're an unreasonable monster."
Maleficent's lip twitches, and Anna's control is flushed down the toilet. She rolls her shoulders and stands, being sure to show all of her best angles as she does.
"That's better," Maleficent says. "Good pup."
A golden beam blasts from Jennifer's hand and slams into Maleficent's chest, sending her flying into the wall with enough force to leave the weakened dragon teetering on unconsciousness.
"You fucking bitch," Jennifer snarls. Golden lightning flares around her other hand and her holy spear appears in it a second later. "Get out of here, Anna," she growls. "I'm going to knock this whole fucking floor out of existence."
Considering no amount of power can break any essential structure of this place, Anna highly doubts that claim, but she doesn't doubt the intention.
Huffing a strained laugh, Anna goes back to one knee. "You might've overridden her main control, but I'm still compelled to stay with her. Hell, it might even be instinct to protect her. I don't know how this works, and I don't know what will happen if you murder her. Dragons are bound to their mates because of these pheromones. We don't know enough to say what will happen if she dies."
A vicious smile curls Jennifer's lips. "Then I suppose we're going to have to convince our little pet here that you two aren't mates anymore, and get her to call it off."
"Reversing the bond she's created might take months or years, if it can be undone at all."
Jennifer cracks her neck and throws her spear to the ground. It lands with a heavy thud and it doesn't bounce. Anna's half amused the weight of it didn't shatter the floor, even though she already knew it wouldn't.
"I can work with that," Jennifer murmurs. She reaches up to the side of her chest, below her shoulder, then grabs at nothing and pulls. A blue circular handle, followed by a thick semi-translucent cylinder full of silver and golden disks resting in dozens upon dozens of columns hisses into existence. In an instant, silver disks of two separate columns start exploding into gold, each disk transition sounding like a gunshot. Not two seconds later, both columns are fully gold.
Anna's eyes widen. "Jen, no!" She tries to push to her feet but her body feels limp and weighed down.
Jennifer pushes the sealing cylinder back into her chest, the thing misting out of existence piece by piece as it comes into contact with her. After it's gone she takes a few deep breaths, allowing herself a few moments to get acquainted with her new powerbase.
"Jen, don't hurt her, please," Anna says. She isn't sure if it's her or the pheromones talking.
Jennifer cracks her neck and looks down her nose at the recovering dragon. "Hurt her? No, I'm not going to hurt her. That's too small a goal. I'm going to make her regret being born."
Maleficent coughs a laugh. "No offence, but I've lived a long life of pain, and I really doubt you're capable of trumping something like that."
"I'm Reaper's kid," Jennifer says with a wide, empty grin. "I'm capable of anything."
Maleficent laughs even harder. Blood trickles from her mouth and down her chin. "You act so noble, blaming all of this on me, but we all knew who I was from the start. You, on the other hand, flip from side to side and fail at deductive reasoning while your dear fiancée tortures herself to death." A sly smile curls her lips. "That's what happened, wasn't it? It only makes sense, with you only putting two and two together now. How many days has it been? How much time has poor, little Anna had inside her own head? That can't be healthy, I'm sure."
"You're trying to provoke me," Jennifer says, even though it's clearly working. Anna stares as the heaven meta clenches her fists and golden magic swirls around her forearms. Whatever Jennifer is going to do next, Anna knows she can't stop it.
"Provoke you?" Maleficent cackles. "That wouldn't do me much good, and it wouldn't be anything new. No, what I want to prove, is not all monsters are as clear cut as me." She grins. "I suggest you look in a mirror."
Jennifer half lurches forward before stopping herself, her eyes brimming with rage. "I'm protecting her from you!" she bellows. "How does that make me a monster?"
A triumphant smile plasters itself on Maleficent's lips. "Because you didn't even realize she needed protecting. From me, from you"—her eyes lock with Anna's—"and from herself." She spits out more blood and flicks her gaze back to Jennifer. "I bet you were too angry to even realize I manipulated the entire situation. I knew what would happen. Anna didn't. But who did you blame, I wonder?"
"You were just trying to tear us apart," Jennifer growls. "You set it up to look like her fault."
"Then why are you still listening?" Maleficent asks. "Part of you knows you fucked up, and you're unwilling to take the quick fix because then Anna will always know how you wiggle yourself out of blame."
Jennifer scowls. "Fine, you want to play it that way?" She pulls the sealing cylinder back out of her chest and deactivates the two columns she activated beforehand, only to activate two more. She pushes it back inside with a strained groan. "I won't make you regret you were born," she says, her voice tight. Anna can feel the power leaking from Jennifer's skin. Whatever powers the heaven meta activated, she doesn't have a good hold on them.
"That's a start, I suppose," Maleficent says. "Though also stupid, considering you know what I'll do once I'm better."
"You were right, I do know you," Jennifer says. "But that doesn't mean I have to deal with the you you've become." She raises a hand and wiggles her fingers. "Are you ready to do some soul searching?"
Maleficent's eyes widen and she struggles to her feet, but she's still nowhere near full strength. "No, you fucking lunatic, stay away from me! Anna! Protect me!"
But the command comes before the pheromones, and Jennifer is on the dragon before the sentence is even complete. Anna watches in both fascination and horror as Jennifer grabs Maleficent's face in both hands and sinks her magic into the dragon's head.
"I'll make you see your sins," Jennifer hisses as she forces Maleficent back against the wall and holds her there, despite her victim's kicking and screaming.
An odd choice of words, Anna thinks, but she doesn't think too hard on it. She can't analyse much of anything until her body suppresses the pheromones again.
After a while the pheromones controlling the ones in Anna's own body turn off and she stands. She takes another look at Jennifer and Maleficent, but the only things that have changed are that Jennifer's sweating now and Maleficent's struggles have ebbed.
Anna doesn't need the breakdown to figure out what's happening. Jennifer is messing with Maleficent's head.
With the onset of a headache, Anna staggers over to her fiancée and lays a hand on her shoulder. Magical retaliation spikes into her palm and Anna draws back with a hiss. Her headache turns just short of migraine levels in an instant.
Yup, Anna thinks with a wince. Definitely a mind fuck.
"Jen, love," she tries instead. "I get it. You want to make Maleficent pay, but you're hurting yourself. You know what the toll of activating too many heaven seals has on you. Please, deactivate them. If you want to deal with Maleficent, do it with your regular power base. It might not be as satisfying but it works. Please, Jen."
Jennifer's nose scrunches and her eyebrows draw together. She's trying to drown Anna out to keep her focus.
"Love," Anna says, gentler this time. "We got into this mess from lack of communication and understanding. Don't push me out now. You can't solve our issues by deciding the resolution by yourself. Please, Jen, you were doing so well. Don't throw away that progress. Come back to me."
Jennifer sounds a long, strained groan and her eyebrows twist further, but she doesn't relent. "If I stop now," she says, her voice reedy and unfocused, "I'll leave her more fucked up than if I didn't do anything at all."
Anna closes her eyes and scrubs her face, "Fucking hell," she whispers. "'Athena protect or preserve me', I always say," she says as she walks to the wall behind Jennifer and leans against it. "And you do protect me, don't get me wrong, but you don't get to decide everything on your own. If you'd consulted me or even James we would have told you you wouldn't have been able to maintain fine control over this heaven ability long enough to make any complete changes in Maleficent's head."
The League leader lets her words sink in for a moment before adding, "This was a doomed venture from the start. Maleficent is too headstrong to let anyone make quick work of her head. You'll only hurt yourself by continuing."
"But her mind—" Jennifer strained.
"You scrambled," Anna guesses, but she says it convincingly enough. "Whatever you've done you can't undo, and you can't maintain your hold long enough to complete what you started."
"Memories, fine," Jennifer huffs between breaths. "Emotions? Not so"—she grunts—"much."
Anna frowns. Emotions? Why would that— "Oh," she airs, her eyes widening. "Oh shit."
While a maniac, Maleficent acts out of a lack of emotions rather than the presence of them. That fact alone has made her do both terrible things, and made her mellow in-between massacres simply because she didn't get off on them. She did them because she was bored.
Being at the League changed that, a little. Maleficent cared enough about Anna, or her claim to Anna, to make her watch her step. But actually feel something? Anna isn't sure if that's ever happened to the surly dragon, at least in the years after she left Berk.
Maleficent actually having emotions? If done right it would be brilliant checkmate that's done to herself. If done wrong, the League might have a bigger problem on their hands than the gore staining Maleficent's past. She might just be fucked up enough to render half of Earth a wasteland.
"Okay, I get where your thought process was when you did this and, ya know, smart in theory," Anna admits. "But also super fucking dumb. Maleficent may be a headache now, but she can become a goddamn nightmare if you screw this up."
"Then shut up, and let me, focus," Jennifer wheezes in broken speech.
"You don't have time to fix everything," Anna says, trying her best to keep her voice calm. "You need to deactivate these seals before they hurt you."
"No need, to fix, everything," Jennifer grunts. "Just, one thing."
Anna frowns, doubtful, but there's not much she can argue. If Jennifer can patch up even one of the things she fucked up in Maleficent's head then it's better than nothing.
With a gasp Jennifer staggers backwards and collapses to her knees. With a shaking hand she pulls out the sealing cylinder and deactivates every disk in the two columns she activated earlier.
"Jesus I hate that," Jennifer says, gulping for breath. "Always feels like I'm inches from losing control of myself."
Then it's a good thing you're well versed at keeping yourself in check, Anna thinks, even though she knows it doesn't always matter. "I know," she says instead. She kneels beside Jennifer and rubs soothing circles on her lower back. "Tell me now," she continues in a low voice, "do I need to call in the others to help us deal with Maleficent?" Her heart hurts at the thought but, again, she doesn't know if that's her or the pheromones talking.
"We shouldn't," Jennifer says, still trying to catch her bearings. "With any luck, she'll contain herself."
Anna glances to Maleficent, slumped and twitching on the floor where Jennifer dropped her. "I hope you're right."
A strained but genuine smile twitches onto Jennifer's lips. "I am, don't worry."
"I'll worry quite a lot until proven otherwise, thank you very much."
"Fine," Jennifer relents. "With any luck she won't be able to hurt you directly or indirectly, which assures only your enemies, which are enemies of the League regardless, get harmed."
Anna stares at her fiancée. "How the fuck did you manage that?"
"I don't know if I managed it or not," Jennifer admits. "But . . ." she trails off and looks Anna in the eye. "I tried to do it by getting her to love you, for real."
The sentence sounds so alien coming out of Jennifer's mouth that Anna asks her to repeat it, twice. On the second time, Jennifer sighs and says:
"I get it, I made a big deal about you and her, but my decision makes sense. If she loves you then I get my revenge, because she'll be able to reminisce and regret everything she's done to you while trying to make everything right in the meantime." Jennifer sits on her ankles and stares at Maleficent as the dragon struggles to sit up. "I don't like the idea of you and her. I really don't. But I hate the idea of either of us hurting you even more than we already have, and this was the only solution I could think of to change that cycle." She meets Anna's gaze. "I'm sorry for not getting my head out of my ass sooner."
Anna isn't quite willing to forgive that so easily, but she smiles and nods regardless. There's more important things to deal with at the moment than the beef she has with her future wife.
With a quick pat to Jennifer's back, Anna makes her way to Maleficent and kneels beside her instead. "Meli," she whispers. "Are you alright?"
Maleficent's leg kicks out and she grabs at her chest. "That heaven bitch fucked up my heart. It won't stop hurting."
Well damn, Anna thinks. Something worked, that's for sure. It's just a matter of what.
"You'll be fine, love," Anna says. It feels weird saying 'love' to anyone other than Jennifer, but if her fiancée is right about Maleficent loving her, then Anna has to handle it carefully.
Maleficent's face screws up and she curls in on herself. "Uugh," she groans. "I feel like death."
"That can't be right," Anna says with a grin. "I'm pretty sure I didn't see James lurking about."
Maleficent grits her teeth and grips at her chest so hard Anna's worried the dragon will break her own ribs. "You're making it hurt worse. Shut up."
Anna sits with her back against the wall and runs her fingers through Maleficent's hair. "Whatever you say, love."
Maleficent whines, high pitched and pained, and tears stream from her eyes without warning or reprieve. "You bitch," she sobs in Jennifer's general direction. "What the fuck did you do to me?" She slaps at Anna's hand, hard enough to hurt but not enough to make Anna back off. "Stop touching me. Everything you're doing is making it worse. Leave me alone. Both of you, you conspiring bastards."
Jennifer stands on shaky feet with a complexion that's paler than usual. "As much as I'd love to leave, I'm afraid I need keep the pair of you safe for the time being." She frowns. "And probably keep James from talking to you for a bit. Calhoun, prevent James from getting to this floor until further instruction."
"Done," Calhoun responds.
"Agh, fuck the both of you," Maleficent whimpers. Her legs kick more, as if she's trying to push away whatever's going on inside of her. "If I knew you two would try to take me out like this I never would have joined this stupid League."
"If I'd known half the shit I do now, I wouldn't have joined either," Anna admits, and Jennifer gives her a look. The fire hero shrugs in response. It's true. "The thing is," she says, lowering her voice, "now that I'm already in this life, it'd be hard to get out of it. I don't know if I'd be able to retire, get a normal job, and just . . . watch. It would feel wrong, somehow."
"Careful," Jennifer says with a well meaning, if tired, smile, "my parents fall into that latter category."
"I don't fucking care," Maleficent snarls. "Just stop. Both of you. Leave me the fuck alone. Go! Get out!"
Anna's heart aches, and with a pitying smile she places Maleficent's head on her lap. "Sorry, love. You're going to have to deal with us for a little while longer." Jennifer purses her lips at the sight, and Anna knows the heaven meta wants to say something, but she doesn't. As much as Jennifer hates Maleficent, she knows what she did requires a delicate hand if they want Maleficent to come out of this stable.
"I hate you," Maleficent wails. "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you."
Maleficent keeps crying, and Anna keeps comforting her, and Jennifer keeps standing there.
And Maleficent still punches Jennifer in the pelvis when all is said and done, but not as hard as she normally would. Anna considers that progress.
Present Day
"I get why you did it," Anna sighs, "but shit, Mulan, couldn't you have left my history with the Ultimates out of it?"
"It got them to listen, didn't it?" Mulan counters, but her arms are crossed tight against her chest in contrast to her confidence.
"Yeah, it did. And it made Shang talk to me not minutes afterwards."
"I already apologised for that," Mulan says. "I didn't think— who goes straight to Arson, of all people?"
"He does," Anna says. She stares at Mulan for a minute, letting her sit in the unknown, before huffing a light laugh and walking into the kitchen. "It's fine. He's a good kid. A little blunt, but he listens and adapts." She decides to leave the contingency message out of it. Her chest still hurts from watching it, and it's almost been a day since then. "I think he'll make a wonderful Elite."
Calhoun, lounging on the couch and listening in on the entire conversation, raises an eyebrow. "Out of all the ways I expected this to go, this wasn't one of them." She props herself on her elbows and sends Anna a curious look. "Excuse me if I'm being presumptuous, but you sound like you're ready to induct him into the fold now."
"I considered it," Anna admits, and she did. She and Shang might not be on the best terms, but they're on the same team now, she thinks, which is the best Anna can hope for.
Calhoun's eyebrows disappear into her hairline. "Well colour me with bug blood. If you keep this up people might start thinking you're reasonable."
"Hey now," Anna says with a smile. "I never said I'd do it." She grabs an Athena mug from the cupboard and throws a narcotic tea bag into it. "Shang and Jane are a package deal. If they're going to become Elites, they're going to have to become it together. I already risked the former Junior dynamic by solely promoting Mulan. I'd rather avoid more strife if I can."
A slow smile spreads over Calhoun's lips. "So you're telling me that if Jane meets whatever standards Shang aced when he talked to you, they'll both get promoted and get full disclosure in our current plan?"
"Basically, yeah," Anna says. She wiggles her mug in the direction of the table, where Ariel, Rapunzel, and Aurora sit. "Ariel, can you?"
Ariel grins and, a second later, Anna's mug is full of water. Anna boils it in the next.
Mulan stares at Anna in shock. "Wait," she says, "does that mean you're willing to do the same for all of the League members if they take the news well?"
Belle, sitting on the couch opposite to Calhoun with a laptop resting on her crossed legs, looks up in interest.
"Sure," Anna says with a shrug. "But let's be honest, what are the chances of any of the others taking the news nearly as well as Shang or even Jane? Those two have history with me and Mulan, and they lived through enough old Elite craziness to realize what Mulan told them isn't unreasonable."
"Perhaps it wasn't unreasonable because Mulan's the one that told them," Belle muses. "Sure Shang and Jane have history with you, Arson, but Mulan was on their side when you turned villain. Mulan helped strategize and fight you, so for her to say 'I trust her' means more than anything you could ever do to prove yourself."
Anna frowns. "If that's true then . . . my idea of talking to each of the Full members one-on-one could be disastrous."
"Of course it could be, and probably will be," Belle says. "I mean, I get why you wanted to do it that way, because you didn't trust us in what we'd choose to disclose. But surely you see that bringing us into this might be for the best?"
"Yeah, I do." Anna takes a sip of her tea. It hasn't steeped long enough. "Here's my issue though. Mulan has a bond with Shang and Jane. I don't think any Leaguer after the first Incident has that type of relationship with each other. Besides Rapunzel and Elsa, I suppose."
"I'm not telling her alone," Rapunzel says. "I bet she's going to blow a gasket after she finds out I'd 'cozied up with Arson'."
"I promised you I'd talk to her and I will," Anna says. "But it might be a good idea to come with me. It would be easier to sell the whole 'I made her do it against her wishes' thing with both of us there."
"You did make me do this against my wishes," Rapunzel replies.
At least until you met Archangel, Anna thinks. "Just because it's true doesn't mean people will believe it. Having both of us there will give everything more credibility."
"Okay, so you and Rapunzel will tackle Elsa," Belle says. "What about the rest of us?"
"That depends," Anna deadpans, "does anyone want to tell Merida, Megara, Kida, or Esmeralda that I'm their worst nightmare?"
After a moment of silence, Belle releases a steady breath. "All four of those come with issues, don't they?"
"If we can get Esmeralda sober we should be fine," Mulan says, then frowns. "Or would it be better if she's tipsy?" After a moment of thought, her shoulders slump. "Okay, we have a problem."
"No shit," Belle says. "Merida and Megara will go on a rampage the moment we say who Arson is, and they won't listen to logic. Kida, well, her power will go out of control the moment we tell her and none of us are immune to lightning. As for Es, I doubt any of us can predict how she'll react."
"Which is why I don't think any of you should talk to them alone," Anna says. She takes another sip of her tea, frowns, and pokes at the tea bag. Have they gone stale from sitting around for so long? "It's true that I didn't trust any of your judgements regarding these four, but that had more due to who you your audience than your self-restraint. If it were just a matter of my confidence in you all then I wouldn't have had an issue with it."
Aurora tilts her head. "So strange," she murmurs.
Anna sniffs her tea. "The fact that a demon like me is relatively normal, or the fact that this"—she wiggles her mug, letting water slosh on the floor—"isn't doing jack shit?" She frowns and walks back into the kitchen, murmuring, "Did I grab the right bag?"
"I don't even know what that is," Aurora says.
"Drugs," Calhoun yawns, startling the others.
Belle frowns. "Somehow I'm not surprised."
"You do drugs?" Ariel asks with alarm. "Do you need help?" She punches a fist into her palm. "Need me to destroy it all?"
Anna pulls out another tea bag with a smile. "It's fine, Ariel." She smells the tea bag, confirming that it is the right one, and throws that into her cup as well. "Drugs and toxins don't do all that much to me. This one"—she raises her glass—"just calms my nerves. Or, at least, it should. I'm getting the feeling it has a shelf life."
"That shit's been lying around for, how long now? Five, six years?" Calhoun ponders. "It's possible the active chemicals die after a specific amount of time. Vikke, look into it."
"God, I hope not," Anna mutters. She sips at her drink. It isn't much better. "I was banking on this shit helping me get through my talk with Elsa."
Rapunzel's muscles jolt. "You're talking to her this morning?"
"Yeah," Anna airs. "That's part of the reason I wanted you all here this morning instead of going directly to what you guys are working on." She looks at Aurora and the box of cereal in front of her. Anna wonders how old it is. "She's just here for breakfast, I'm assuming."
"Yeah, but there isn't much here," Aurora says. She lifts the cereal box. "I'm pretty sure this is a relic, and everything in the fridge, freezer, and deep freeze should have been thrown out a long time ago."
"There's canned food somewhere," Anna says, then frowns. "Just read the ingredients. Not all of it was meant for humans." Her frown deepens. "I'll have to supply you all with a translator, too, because not all of the labels are in English."
"Why don't I just make a grocery run?" Mulan suggests. "Other than training I'm not helping with any research or projects we have going on, so I have the time."
Ariel grins. "Go in costume."
That gets a startled smile out of Mulan. "Why would I do that?"
"Just imagine the news!" Ariel laughs. "It would be hilarious seeing a hero story about a Leaguer buying food, of all things. And can you imagine the look on the other Leaguers faces as they think, 'this is part of their ultimate plan. What's their game?' Then, if they ask us, we can say, 'sorry, no leeks'!" She breaks into uncontrollable cackles. "Get it, leeks? As in onions?"
Anna spits out her tea and laughs right along. The others are soon to join in.
"Oh, my god," Rapunzel chortles. "That was the worst pun I've ever heard."
Ariel grins and kisses the healer's temple. "The worst pun from the best person, so technically it's the best, just like me!"
Rapunzel smiles and turns to her head to kiss Ariel's chin. "You're right. It's the best, just like you."
Ariel beams and she pulls Rapunzel into a side hug, looking more pleased than Anna's ever seen her. It warms Anna's heart enough to draw her out of the kitchen and plant a kiss on the top of Ariel's head. "You're adorable," she murmurs into the marine meta's hair.
Ariel tilts her head back and nips at Anna's nose. "No, I'm vicious," she says with a grin. "Rawr."
Anna smiles. "The fiercest I've ever met." She walks back to where Mulan still stands and sips at her subpar tea. "Alright, so after this meeting you can go get some food. In costume, because you'll be using League transportation."
Mulan smiles. "Are you sure it doesn't have to do with Ariel's joke?"
"It might have been a factor," Anna says with a smile. She turns back to the rest of the room. "Right, I didn't want to get into this with Sandman here—"
"I can leave," Aurora says. She takes the box of cereal and stands. "There's no reason for me to be here until Mulan returns, anyway." She looks at Anna. "And you can call me Aurora."
Anna's smile stiffens. "Sorry. I didn't know if you'd want me to after our last encounter."
"If you were the Arson from the news I wouldn't," Aurora admits. "But you . . . you try. You said it yesterday; you could have questioned me Black Dragon's way, but you didn't. That means something. I'm not sure what it means, exactly, but it's something." She wiggles the cereal box and gestures towards the door that leads to the elevator. "I'll hang out in my room."
"Do you like it?" Anna asks, before the sleep meta can take more than a step. "The room, that is. Do you like it?"
Aurora sends Anna an odd look. "It's fine. Why?"
Anna opens her mouth to say something like, 'I just want to make sure you're comfortable', but she stops herself before she can. She isn't that person anymore, the one who makes people feel at home. A knife twists in Anna's heart and she clenches her jaw. "Just wondering," she says, more clipped than before.
Aurora winces and glances at Ariel for help, but the marine meta is staring at Anna with a curious expression. Rapunzel meets Aurora's gaze instead and says:
"It's okay. She gets like this."
Aurora nods and leaves the room before anyone else can address her.
"You're the best at making friends, Anna," Belle drones. Her eyes return to her laptop and she starts typing.
"The best," Anna mutters, with more than a touch of irony. "So here's the scoop," she says, louder. "For anyone unaware, we know the civilian identity of Alpha Alpha thanks to Esmeralda, and what he looks like thanks to Belle. Vikke, show image." On the far wall a screen appears and two images show up: one a full body and one a close up on the face. "Aesgrad Landalis. Other than what we're already aware he's done, he's directly responsible for the Beast of France."
Belle sneers but she doesn't look up from her laptop. "The bastard," she murmurs.
After Esmeralda explained everything she knew about Aesgrad, Belle insisted Esmeralda push the image of the man into her head. Anna thought Belle wanted to know the face of the meta that ensured the destruction of her home town, and that might have been part of it, but the meta used that image and direct access to create a digital version for his file. Anna can't honestly say she'd have thought to do the same.
Anna scans the expressions of everyone in the room. No one appears surprised by this news. "It looks like all of you read up on the newest information, so I won't repeat it. On the next—"
"So that's your dad, huh?" Ariel asks. She glances between Aesgrad's picture and Anna, then back again.
"If you're looking for resemblances, stop," Anna says.
"Eyes and hair," Ariel settles with, as if she were in a debate with herself.
"Cool, thanks for listening," Anna murmurs. Louder, she says, "Second order of business, as you're probably aware, is Archangel's visit this Thursday."
Mulan's eyebrows shoot into her hairline. "I didn't know about that," she says.
"Well, it's a good thing we're having a meeting," Anna says. I never used to be so bad at distributing information, she thinks, then frowns. How were the old Elites so efficient at this? What did they have that we don't? "She's going to be giving me access to the energy source I saw in the planning room. Simple in and out. We can either lock out the route she'll be taking so only Elites have access to her or let everyone who happens upon us see her. I'll leave that up to you guys."
Belle's attention snaps to Anna in surprise. "You mean you're not micromanaging a plan of action for once?"
"Yeah," Anna says. "Just be aware that she'll be coming in civvies, because she's still technically retired. So she'll be just"—she swallows—"Emma." Bile burns the back of her throat just saying it.
"Oh," Belle says, "then we can just tell the others a civilian informant is coming." She frowns. "Only then they'll wonder who has information so important we'd bring them here, and they'd know her face so they'd theoretically be able to track her down."
"And the flight logs would be inaccessible to them," Anna says. "Any flight log of a present or former Protector's home is restricted to either the individual in question or Elites. Or, more pertinent in this case, dangerous individuals we don't want anyone under the level of Elite confronting."
Belle sighs and leans back against the couch. "Go back to micromanaging. At least then I can destroy your plan instead of you destroying mine before they're even made."
"I'm sure you'll live," Anna remarks. "Last but not least, I'll be visiting Scar soon, as Arson, to ask for his help in my fight against Calhoun. After I do, we'll be on a countdown. I'd say it'll have to happen in less than a month. He will want time to prepare, but he won't want to give the League, in turn, time to prepare."
"So, basically, make sure I have replacement limbs by then," Calhoun says. She glances at Belle. "Think you can do it?"
"I can, but something will have to give," Belle says. "I can't look up the Old God, any reason why Kida would know the name Beta Rho, create cyborg replacement parts, assist in making Calhoun's armour, and help Elsa."
"I'm already sort of helping you with the first two things," Anna says, "so I'll—"
"Continue doing that with my aid," Calhoun interrupts. "That way Belle doesn't have to worry about it." She waves off Anna when she gives her a look. "Don't worry. I'll keep looking into Archangel, see if she has anything to gain by coming here without Reaper being aware you're the reason. Can't promise I'll find anything, though."
"That's fine, thank you," Anna says. She turns to Rapunzel. "Unless you have any questions, suit up. We're going to pay Elsa a visit."
Ariel raises a hand. "Can I come along, too? You know, for moral support."
"I mean," Anna hedges, "you can stand guard outside the door. Otherwise it'll seem like—"
"I'll take it," Ariel chirps. "I meant moral support for you two after you were done talking with Elsa anyway."
"You say that like it won't go well," Rapunzel says with a frown.
"Whether it goes well or not I know at least one of you will fret over it," Ariel says with a knowing smile. "That's why I'll be there."
"Alright, go suit up then," Anna says. She downs her bland tea. "Unless anyone else has questions we can all disperse."
After a moment of silence Belle closes her laptop and stands. "All I need is Calhoun. I need measurements and the weight of individual body parts."
"Fun," Calhoun says. "Can we work out a cool colour scheme for the replacement parts?"
Belle shrugs. "If you find the time, sure. I'll be too busy with calculations and building to worry about that. And I'll have to figure out if I can make any of the material hellfire proof."
"Doubt it," Anna says. "Scar managed it, but that was only through using my hell abilities and a rare artifact. It was worth it, I think, but the cost of activating those abilities was a bitch. I barely got out of the facility after he injected me with the suppressant, and I ended up spending three days in a dumpster recovering."
"Why not stay with— oh, right," Mulan says, correcting herself mid-sentence, "Scar wanted to dissect you."
"Just my eyes," Anna says, "but yeah. So I preferred the dumpster. But also not. It was trash day on the third morning and, let me tell you, a machine trying to compact you while you feel like death is not a fun experience." She sets down her mug and claps her hands. "Alright, let's get moving!"
"I love how you can say that like it's not a big deal," Mulan says as the rest of the Elites disperse.
"Compared to everything else I've been through," Anna remarks, "that's one of my better memories." She pats Mulan's shoulder and heads to the door. "Good luck on your grocery run. If anyone asks questions on League business tell them we're planning an announcement soon explaining changes to the organization."
"Oh yeah," Calhoun mutters from in front of her, "I should probably work on that speech."
"Probably," Anna says, but she doesn't find herself caring much. Her years as a villain have taught her actions speak louder than words, and she can't find it in her to give a damn about the official in-front-of-a-podium announcements. She'd be okay making an official Protector League social media account and posting things like, 'Colonel Reeves is new Elite.' Informative, impersonal, and blunt.
That isn't what we're going for, Anna reminds herself, even though she wouldn't mind that approach in the slightest.
"How did you lose face with the public?" Anna mocks herself under her breath. "Oh, I thought implementing the same dick methods the old Elites used to suggest was a good idea. Yeah, the same ones I used to tell them not to do!" Her muscles freeze, and her mind flashes over every single one of the old Elites when she first met them.
'You made the Elites.'
Anna shakes her head to rid it of James' voice and she sucks in a calming breath.
I've become one of them, she thinks. One of those bitter metas who lost too much to care about anything but their goal. Athena had the goal of protection at all costs. Hades wanted to make his mom proud. Bear only cared about herself and her family. Black Dragon only cared about entertaining herself, everyone else be damned.
Now there's Anna, who only cares about ridding the universe of the Ambassadors.
A mirthless smile curls Anna's lips and she chuckles, low and empty. What would the past version of her say if she were told her future self is planning genocide?
Probably laugh and ask if they're talking about Black Dragon, she thinks. God, how far she's fallen.
Fingers tapping on her face brings Anna back to the present and she bats the hand away. She looks around and catches Ariel and Rapunzel staring at her with concerned expressions.
"You've been staring into nothing for like two minutes," Ariel says. "And that's only counting the time since I got back up here."
Anna frowns and takes stock of her surroundings. She's standing in average size square of space with four doors, and before Ariel arrived she was staring at the one that led to the first chamber of the Elite section. She doesn't freak out about her lack of awareness, or even feel alarmed.
"The tea worked," Anna says. Now that she's aware of it, her stomach is cramping a bit. She hopes she doesn't get gas. She smiles at the thought. "Vikke, make note. Tea doesn't lose potency over time, it gains it. Marked by lack of flavour when drinking."
"Noted. Comparing to documented information," Vikke says. "Analyses complete. Theory in line with high fatality rates in Luvion natives when consuming old Nar."
"Nar," Anna chuckles. "No wonder I never remember the proper name."
Rapunzel places a hand on Anna's shoulder. "Will you be alright? Should we postpone?" Her voice sounds odd with the voice projection of her helmet. Anna wonders if her voice will sound that strange when she becomes Beta Rho, son of Aesgrad.
Anna hums and takes a quick mental check of her brain functionality. "It shouldn't be an issue," she replies after a pause. "The only thing that the higher dose appears to have knocked out is my ability to feel threatened and, presumably, notice when I'm in danger. Worse comes to worst, I won't react if Elsa decides to put ice through my skull."
Rapunzel's eyebrows creep up her forehead. "That's kind of a big deal."
"Unless we do our jobs poorly, death shouldn't be an issue," Anna says.
"The issue is that you're suicidal even when you're actively protecting yourself," Rapunzel says. "With your protective instinct fooled into thinking you're fine, you could actually get yourself killed."
"The effects are temporary," Anna says, "and I'm sure you know Elsa well enough to warn me if she's liable to try anything." She starts walking and the sliding doors open from proximity. She pauses for a moment in the main entryway and turns back around.
Ariel, who'd been following her, tilts her head and stops walking. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just want to look at something," Anna says. The doors slide shut, and she takes a moment to examine the new symbols gracing its surface. Alongside Ariel's trident and Rapunzel's crosses, Belle's quill rests on the right side of number three, opposite Rapunzel, and Mulan's dissolving black circle stands alone on the left side of number four.
Anna is about to ask if Calhoun hasn't decided on a symbol yet when she sees in on the right side of number thirteen. She smiles at the sight. Calhoun went with a stylized backwards K inside a simple shield. That was her people's military rank for defender generals. Guess the alien warrior didn't like her old colonel sigil.
"Alright, I'm good," Anna says, and turns to the heavyset doors behind her. "ECA zero one requesting main doors open."
Ariel tilts her head as the bolts on the reinforced doors retract with heavy thucks. "Why do you use ECA in the Elite section?"
Anna shrugs. "Same permissions without the memories." The doors open and she starts walking.
They make their way to the general living quarters in silence, only broken by Ariel's hum of pleasure when both Anna and Rapunzel take hold of one of her hands. When they finally stop in front of Elsa's room Ariel smiles and kisses Anna and Rapunzel on the forehead in turn.
"Good luck you two," Ariel says, and sends Rapunzel an award winning smile. "Keep my home safe, yeah?"
"Your home?" Rapunzel questions.
"She means me," Anna supplies. She raises Ariel's hand and kisses the armoured knuckles. "I'll be fine. I still have some Ambassadors to fuck up, don't I?"
Ariel grins. "Good."
Anna smiles back and releases Ariel's hand. She turns to Elsa's door and knocks five times without rhythm. The door opens in seconds.
Elsa, in full ice armour, stands on the other side of the door. She glances between the Elites crowding her doorway. "I'll admit," she says, "I didn't expect you to actually show up, let alone with backup." Her eyes fall on Rapunzel and Ariel's hands before giving Anna an odd look. "I didn't want to be in a relationship with you and Poseidon so you get Golde— Crossroads in on it instead?"
Rapunzel laughs before Anna can think of a response. "The day I consider being in a relationship with Anna is the day the world dies," the healer says. She bumps her shoulder with Ariel. "Poseidon and I are in something of a relation of our own."
Elsa raises an eyebrow. "Because that makes sense?"
"It does," Rapunzel assures, "but that's Poseidon's story to tell, and it's not the reason we're here." She gestures to Elsa's room. "Can we come in?"
"Uh, yeah, sure," Elsa says, and steps off to the side.
Ariel kisses Rapunzel's helmet before releasing the healer's hand and taking up position by the side of the door. Rapunzel nods her appreciation and enters the room, but Anna is stopped when Ariel taps two fingers to her forehead.
Anna pauses to think. She still doesn't know what this gesture means, but the emotion in Ariel's eyes tells her it's significant. She takes the safe route and doesn't say anything.
Ariel's smile becomes watery. "Come back to me."
Running on instinct, Anna taps two fingers on Ariel's forehead as well, and the marine meta's eyes widen. "Don't worry," Anna says with a smile. "I always find my way home."
Ariel swallows hard. "As happy as I am to hear that, that isn't what this"—she presses her fingers harder into Anna's forehead—"means." She removes Anna's fingers from her forehead and kisses her fingers. "I appreciate the sentiment, but please don't do that again until you know what it means."
"Then tell me what it means," Anna says.
Ariel smiles and mouths the answer for Anna's eyes only, and this time it's Anna's eyes that widen. Before Anna can respond, Ariel removes her fingers and shoves Anna into Elsa's room. "Have fun, lovelies!" She shuts the door before anyone can react.
Elsa dissolves her armour but doesn't deviate her eyes from the door. "I swear she gets more eccentric every time I see her."
"She means well," Rapunzel says as she pulls off her helmet and shakes out her hair. "Please don't hold it against her."
Elsa gives her friend an odd look. "Why would I? Weird is the new normal, at least in the League. I only have an issue with her running around naked and her excessive physical affection."
Rapunzel's eyes harden and her lips press into a tight line, but she doesn't say anything. Anna, with her less than optimal mindset, doesn't have the same restrictions.
"Physical affection is the only way her people show how they care for others," Anna says. "Without it she feels as though she were being punished or, worse, that no one loves her. Words of affection don't mean anything to her without touch to confirm it as true."
Elsa's features slack and she looks to Rapunzel for confirmation, but the healer is staring at Anna.
"I thought we agreed that Poseidon would be the one to tell people at her own pace?" Rapunzel asks, but it's less of a question and more of an accusation.
"She hasn't told the League in two years out of fear," Anna says. "If she's anything like me, she will put it off for years until she's forced to face it. I'd rather save her another two years of suffering."
"Wait," Elsa says, "I don't understand. What do you mean she only comprehends physical gestures? I've never gotten any indication she lacked verbal understanding."
"She doesn't lack verbal understanding," Anna corrects, "it just doesn't mean anything to her. Her culture is touch based, so patting her on the shoulder means more to her than any form of verbal praise or encouragement. To her words are empty without a touch to confirm them."
Elsa frowns and her gaze flicks aside. She looks confused. "This is— why wouldn't she tell anyone? We could have accommodated her."
"Because her culture is very, oh, how to say this," Anna says. She rocks back on her heels with a thoughtful look on her face. "It has the tendency to border on romantic the moment two people become friends, and any level above regular friendship pushes them more into relationship status, with sex if both parties are willing. The whole culture is very polyamorous."
"Anna," Rapunzel warns.
Anna raises an eyebrow. "Do you not want Elsa to know?"
Rapunzel narrows her eyes. "I do, but I want Poseidon to have the same option of telling people at her own pace. You know, the same thing you fought us tooth and nail for?"
"Ah," Anna says, and offers an apologetic smile. "Sorry. My heart overrode my brain."
"So," Elsa says, still processing the information, "have we been giving her empty gestures since she joined the League?" She glances at Rapunzel. "That's why you were holding hands with her, isn't it? To show her you care?" Her expression falls before the healer can answer. "Does that mean we've been depriving her of emotional support this whole time?"
Rapunzel sighs through her nose. "Since the cat's already out of the bag, yeah, basically." She nods her head to Anna. "She's the only reason we found out about it at all, because she's familiar with Tridium culture."
"Not as familiar as I'd like, but yeah," Anna confirms.
"Jesus fucking Christ," Elsa says. She stumbles to her bed and sits down. "That's just— fuck." She buries her face in her hands. "I'm a horrible leader."
"You worked with the information you were given and had access to," Anna says. "That doesn't make you a bad leader, it just means you did the best you could with what you were given."
"I should have seen it," Elsa stresses. She gestures to nothing, as if it would help accentuate her point. "All the signs were right there."
"But you didn't know she was from a different planet," Anna says.
"She has gills, Anna," Elsa grits. "I should have known from that alone that I was dealing with an entirely foreign culture. God damn it." She rubs her forehead. "Maybe it's a good thing I'm not an Elite. I'm fucking oblivious."
You feel oblivious now? Anna thinks. Just wait til we get to what we actually came here to talk about. "All Full League members will become Elites within the following weeks," she says instead. "It just won't happen until Colonel Reeves and Arson have an all-out smackdown."
Elsa frowns. "Colonel— oh, Calhoun. I keep forgetting she's a meta now." Her head snaps up. "Wait, did you just say the whole League will become Elites?"
Anna smiles and nods. "I did." She doesn't mention that joining at that time will give them front row sets to Calhoun murdering all the villains situated on Earth. Even if another Protector succeeds Calhoun as Elite leader, it won't stop her from carving a path of destruction. And Anna, as Beta Rho, will be right there to help the colonel paint the streets red.
Anna suspects not feeling anything at the prospect of murdering hundreds of villains should disturb her, but it doesn't. Her conscious is already drowning in the millions of people directly and indirectly slaughtered by her hand. What are a couple hundred more? At least this batch deserves it.
Maleficent was a villain, Anna reminds herself, and Bear could have been considered a villain, as well. She sucks in a breath and blows it out in a steady stream. Technically I'm a villain, too.
Maybe she should consider recruiting.
"I— not to sound ungrateful," Elsa says, "but if you're planning to make us Elites anyway, why wait? I get that you're going after Arson, but we can help. I don't understand why—"
"Because the Elites are cooperating with Arson in the meantime in their search for Alpha Alpha and his children," Anna interrupts.
One second. Two seconds. Three—
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Elsa asks, but there's no answer in her voice, just a lack of comprehension. She turns to Rapunzel. "Why would you work with her? After everything she's done—"
"Because she's still going to die," Rapunzel says, and Anna can see it's almost physically painful for the healer to say that. "If she's going to get owned by Calh— Colonel Reeves anyway, I don't see why we shouldn't milk her for all she's got in the meantime."
"That's stupid," Elsa says. "I mean, it's smart, but it's also unbelievably risky. You know as well as I how smooth she is with words. Truths bleed into lies and back again without anyone knowing the wiser, and she's smart enough to turn the situation around and manipulate the League just like you're planning on manipulating her."
"Under normal circumstances, perhaps," Anna intercedes, "but Reeves having her body back changes things."
Elsa turns to Anna. "How do you mean?"
Anna shrugs. "Arson's had a death wish ever since the first time she suppressed Red, but with the old Elites dead there was no one strong enough or well trained enough to handle a possible Ambassador retaliation. That is, until Reeves came back into the picture. Reeves is stronger than Arson and she's as willing as the old Elites were to do whatever is necessary."
Elsa stares for a moment before her features contort in anger. "Arson knows Calhoun—"
"Colonel Reeves."
"—Arson knows Colonel Reeves is going to try to kill her."
Anna nods. "She does, and she looks forward to it."
Elsa bolts to her feet. "Because she's going to have a chance to kill Reeves the same way she killed the rest of the old Elites!" she bellows. "How can you not see that? You were there the last time. You told me Arson killed your fiancée in front of your eyes."
"I did," Anna says. If the tea weren't still strong in her system, she suspects she might be feeling trepidation right about now.
"Then how can you even consider working with that monster?" Elsa demands.
Anna smiles, she can't help it. "I've worked with monsters much worse than Arson for lesser reasons than the fate of a planet."
Rapunzel winces and sends Anna a pitying look. Elsa notices.
"Worse than Arson?" Elsa asks, caution returning to her tone. "Why would you do that?"
A flash of Emma's face sears the back of Anna's eyes but the tea prevents her from freaking out. "There was no one else to turn to," Anna states. "Some abilities are incredibly rare and when you find a meta who has them you keep them around, whether they're a good person or not."
In saying that, Anna thinks, if they weren't Ultimates I already would have tried to kill them.
Elsa bobs her head in a slow, considerate nod. "Using that logic, Arson should also be kept around." Her lips curl into a bitter smile. "But I'll still sleep better at night once she's buried. More trouble than it's worth, isn't it? Keeping around a lunatic?" She takes a moment to think. "When Reeves starts killing all the other villains, will the people you've worked with who are worse than Arson be on the hit list?"
If only it were that easy. "No," Anna says instead. "Those metas have abilities that are impossible to counter, and if Reeves is smart she'll stay the hell away from them."
A disturbed expression crosses Elsa's face. "These metas scare you more than Arson?"
"Of course they do," Anna says. "Besides my insane split personality I don't have any reason to fear myself."
Silence blankets the room.
Rapunzel slowly turns her head until she's staring at Anna with a look that screams, 'really? That's how you did it?'
Elsa's gaze flicks from Anna to Rapunzel and back again, as if trying to figure an inside joke that doesn't exist.
Slow comprehension slacks Elsa's features and she stares at Anna like a deer caught in headlights.
Rapunzel takes a hesitant step forward. "Elsa—"
"She's Arson," Elsa says, not moving a muscle.
"I know," Rapunzel says, caution clear in her tone. "She's taken unofficial control of the Elites until Reeves kills her. That's the reason I wasn't able to tell you anything; she's been enforcing the old Elite policy of not divulging information."
"But I'm trying to break out of that way of doing things," Anna adds. "Right now I'm telling all the Full members individually about who I really am, and if they take it well they'll be allowed to join the Elites early. Otherwise they'll be promoted after Reeves kills me so that her strategy isn't affected by unknown variables."
Elsa's nostrils flare and her eyes narrow. "Do you honestly expect me to believe you'll actually die?"
"I do," Anna says. "The fight is going to be aired live on every channel available internationally, and I won't be using hellfire or hellfire smoke because I don't want to risk going Red. Without my hell abilities Reeves outguns me, literally. I don't stand a chance."
"You can summon Athena's spear."
"Summon, not use," Anna corrects. "If I tried it would rip my arms to shreds, just like before, if not blow them off entirely. I don't know enough about the spear to put my life in its hands. I'd rather stick with what I can rely on, and what I can rely on are things that Reeves knows inside and out." Her lips curl into an empty smile. "I have no expectations of getting out of this alive."
"Why would Reeves kill you?" Elsa demands, her confidence returning to her. "You two get along, and it would be smarter from a tactical standpoint to keep you around."
"I've heard I'm a tad suicidal," Anna says, and Rapunzel shoots her a look. "And it's been a long time since I've seen Reeves in action. I suspect I'll end up getting myself killed long before Reeves considers taking the final shot."
Elsa sneers and looks down her nose at the villain. "Pretty words. Hard to believe they mean anything, though. Misleading truths is what you specialize in, isn't it?"
Well, she isn't wrong, Anna thinks. And it's not like she can say things like, 'Arson will die' because Elsa knows her villainous speech patterns well enough to know that means, 'Arson, not Anna.'
"You have no reason to believe me, and that's fine," Anna says, "but after I'm dead you'll become Elites. That means you'll have access to every file available to us on the server, with the exception of files inserted on the system before Athena and Hades founded the Protectors." Truth sprinkled with lies. Only the current Elites will have access to the part of Anna, Arson, and Beta Rho's profiles that links them as the same person.
Elsa frowns. "What do you mean, before the Protectors? Didn't they create this place?"
"God no," Anna says. "Athena and Hades would've murdered each other before completing a structural feat of this magnitude. This was built before they were even born. Don't ask who built it, I'm not telling you. Bad history."
Elsa's eyes flash, but before she can say anything Rapunzel says, "Trust me on this one, the builder is a dick. I've met them and it"—she winces—"it wasn't pretty."
Anna nods her appreciation before turning her attention back to Elsa. "All you need to know, at least for now, is that the builder locked out files under their personal deadlock codes. The old Elites couldn't access them even with the internal hacking protocols of direct access. The files switch to an offline external system or something when you get close to them. We never figured out how to get around it."
"Interesting," Elsa allows, "but you're shifting the conversation away from you. That makes me believe you'll fake your death."
Anna's heart leaps into her throat, but the tea continues to keep her calm. Without it she's sure she would have given a physical tell that would prove Elsa right.
"I have nothing to gain from that," Anna says. "You know my fake name, my civilian name, my face, and my powers. I couldn't retire to a normal life and my powers would give me away if I ever tried changing my meta name like Crossroads and Justice did. And yes, before you ask, I knew Justice was Tarzan long before I came back to the League."
Which does remind me, the fire meta thinks. How in the hell am I going to get away with being Beta Rho? I'm going to have to have a talk with Scar. Maybe the villain will even agree to make her costume in exchange for Protector status, to save himself from Calhoun's villain slaughter.
Elsa grits her teeth and tsks. "You're crafty enough to get away with it." She waves a flippant hand. "For all I know you'll get Reaper's help, since he's apparently an expert at faking deaths and staying under the radar."
A punch of emotion breaks free of the Nar's effects and Anna jabs two fingers into Elsa's chest. "Reaper is a fucking monster and should have died the day he faked his death like the fucking slime that he is, and the day I ask him for anything let alone something as pitiful as that is the day I'll kill myself, no assistance needed."
Elsa hits Anna's hand and pushes the fire meta away, or tries. Anna positions her feet and resists the brute force. Elsa's eyes flash and icy armour starts crawling over her skin.
Rapunzel rushes forward and puts a hand on Anna's chest. "Whoa, back up."
A vicious snarl curls Anna's lips and her head snaps to the healer. "I will not tolerate—"
"Don't explain it to me, I get it," Rapunzel says. She applies some force to Anna's chest and she obeys by taking a few small steps back. The healer smiles and lowers her hand. "Thank you."
Elsa smiles, but it's heartless. "Ah, I get it," she says. "You tried getting him on your side when you turned villain, didn't you? And when he refused in favour of remaining a hero he humiliated you."
"The next one goes on your face."
"He isn't a fucking hero," Anna growls, if only to drown out the memory. "He's a villain to his core."
"No, he used to be a villain," Elsa corrects, with that tone that suggests she knows more about the topic than Anna. "And he wasn't even a true villain. He was undercover so that he would be able to help Archangel once he returned to being a hero."
"I'm a hero turned undercover villain turned hero and you don't seem all that willing to forgive me," Anna snarls, deciding to just roll with Elsa's misconceptions.
Elsa's eyes harden. "You aren't a hero."
"Then why am I here?"
"I don't know, but it isn't because you're a hero. You have an ulterior motive."
"Elsa," Rapunzel says with a marked caution. "You don't want to get into this."
"Don't I?" Elsa counters. She waves to Anna. "She's been at the top of the food chain for so long I doubt she understands the concept of someone not falling over themselves for her and her honeyed words."
"I am right here," Anna snaps.
Elsa glares at Anna. "And I'll say it to your face. You're not a hero. You're a meta who let your warped sense of justice carve your path as a villain and now you're trying to bring that into the League, and I won't allow it. I won't stand on the sidelines as if your views, your actions, and the atrocities caused by your hand are okay."
"Reaper did much worse than me over far more years," Anna retorts. "You want to talk murder? Torture? War? Genocide? Rape? He did that, all of it, for decades over the entire universe. Let me emphasize: he did that. It wasn't the fault of a split personality or mind control, he decided to become that monster. So tell me, what makes him different than me? The fact that you didn't personally experience his version of hell?"
"You're trying to undermine my opinion of one of the best heroes of the past century," Elsa states. "I won't fall for it."
"No! I'm trying to make you think!" Anna roars. She slaps herself on the chest. "Every horrible atrocity I've ever committed I've done as Red Arson, a monster brought into existence by the Ambassadors. Do you recall a time, any time, during my villainous career where I've gone berserk outside of when I was Red?"
Elsa frowns. "You've tortured and killed people."
Anna throws her hands in the air. "Who cares! I did that when I was a hero, all the old Elites did!"
Elsa sighs. "There you go again."
Anna seethes to the point puffs of smoke waft around her neck and shoulders. "God, it's like talking to a fucking brick!"
"I have no reason to believe anything you say!" Elsa fires back.
"Both of you, take a breath," Rapunzel orders.
"I'm not the one who needs the breath," Elsa says. "She's the one losing control."
"Because you're refusing to listen," Anna snaps. She gestures to the door. "You didn't know about Poseidon's situation but you were able to accept the new information. What makes Reaper any different?"
Elsa's cheek twitches and she glances at the door. "Maybe," she considers, "you were lying about that, too."
This time it's Rapunzel's turn to take offense. "Don't you dare," she barks. "You don't like Anna? Fine. But don't subjugate Poseidon to further heartache just because you don't like the person who told you about her situation."
Elsa frowns and gives her friend a look. "But Anna—"
"Don't finish that sentence," Rapunzel grits. "I've seen her laugh, and play, and touch people as if being allowed physical contact was a literal blessing from God ever since people started learning of her culture and accepting it. Whatever beef you have with Anna, it has nothing to do with Poseidon and you will leave her out of it. Do you understand me?"
Elsa's frown deepens. "You have faith in what you've learned about her?"
"I do," Rapunzel says, before barking a bitter laugh. "Then again, I have more faith in Anna right now than I do in you." She sighs and sends the perturbed League leader a searching look. "I don't understand why you're denying everything you hear. I know you understand that, as a Full Protector, you don't have access to the majority of the information this base has to offer. Why is it so difficult to admit that Anna knows more than you do?"
"I'm more than willing to admit she knows more," Elsa says. "Which also means she can twist information without us being any the wiser."
Rapunzel groans and pinches the bridge of her nose. "It is like talking to a brick."
Elsa purses her lips. "You're frustrated with me. Fine. But let me ask you"—she turns to Anna—"if you suspected your perception of events was being altered, what would you believe?"
Anna's eyebrows furrow. "How does that have anything to do with—"
"You were under the influence of tainted hellfire smoke," Elsa interrupts, and Anna's nostrils flare. "While you were experiencing those events you believed them to be true, didn't you? What did that get you?"
Anna's muscles twitch, and false memories whisper in the back of her brain as if mentioning them equated reliving them. "I get what you're saying, but this is real," Anna says, "and there are ways to prove what I'm saying is true."
"Is there?" Elsa counters. "As far as I'm aware everything the new Elites know was either told by you or found in League files and, between you and Reeves, it's hard to say whether they're entirely accurate."
"I didn't learn everything I know from Anna or the base files," Rapunzel says with a note of hesitancy to her voice. "I spoke to Archangel recently, and what she told me . . ." She sends a sympathetic look Anna's way. She closes her eyes for a moment and shakes her head. "Just trust me on this one. Archangel and Reaper aren't good people."
Elsa stares at the healer as if Rapunzel spontaneously grew an arm out of her vagina. "You understand what you're saying right?" Elsa asks. "Archangel and Reaper—"
"Aren't the heroes you think they are, if they're heroes at all," Rapunzel says. "And I didn't form that opinion from anything Anna or the base files told me. I formed it from hearing what they've done from Archangel herself."
"If you're going to tell her, I want to leave first," Anna says. "I lived it. There's only so many times I can hear it repeated."
Rapunzel nods. "I'm okay with that." She turns to Elsa. "I suppose it just depends on if she wants to hear it."
"Of course she does," Anna says before Elsa can answer. "It's just a matter of if she regrets that decision afterwards."
"Why would I regret knowing the truth?" Elsa asks. She glances to her friend. "Is . . . is the truth that bad?"
"The truth makes you realize that the only reason Anna turned villain outside of when she's Red is because of those two," Rapunzel says. "So yeah, it's bad."
Anna's lips press into a thin line and she walks to the door. "I'll wait with Poseidon. Call me back in once you're done explaining it." She eyes Elsa. "That is, if Blizzard wants me to return."
Rapunzel nods. "Alright. We'll let you know."
Anna nods and leaves the room. She knows they won't ask her to return.
Ariel looks over and tilts her head, a curious smile curling her lips. "I didn't expect you to come out so soon." She glances at the door. "Is Crossroads running damage control or something?"
"Or something," Anna says. She leans against the wall beside Ariel, close enough for their arms to touch. Not that Ariel can feel it through her armour. "Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"
Ariel shrugs. "Stormfly came sniffing around a little while about but she left when Executioner's Axe called her."
"Oh yeah, they're still here," Anna comments. She had almost forgotten all about them. Have they been recovering this whole time? "They were down for a while, weren't they?"
"About a week," Ariel says. "Stormfly recovered after a couple of days, but Axe had a rough time because Crossroads never went by to heal her."
Anna winces. Right. "And if I recall right, you were the one beating the daylights out of her, weren't you?"
"I was. I'll tell you this though, without her axe she is not that much of a threat. I was able to incapacitate her in seconds."
"She was in your water," Anna deadpans. "Not many people could get out of that if their powers don't directly contradict yours. Tell me, did you lock her limbs in place?"
"Only long enough to rip her axe away from her," Ariel chortles. "Then I beat her the old fashioned way. Basically." She outright laughs. "I wasn't wearing armour, so I could swim and move faster than her naturally."
"Plus you can breathe underwater," Anna says.
"That too."
Anna smiles and nudges Ariel with her shoulder. "That's why Axe lost so fast. Fighting you in your home territory is basically suicide."
Ariel grins and gestures around them. "Technically the air is my home territory, too, so long as I have my spear."
"Yeah, and it is a pain in the ass to deal with, let me tell you," Anna says. "If I was trying to kill the Leaguers it would have been easy, but playing nice? Hot damn you gave me a run for my money."
Ariel laughs and wraps Anna in a one-armed side hug. "Someone had to give you a challenge, otherwise your life would have gotten boring!"
Anna's amusement seeps out of her and her smile fades. "I had plenty going on to keep my life interesting." She looks at her hands and, for a moment, she swears she sees Athena's heart in them. Tears well in her eyes. "Everything's been so fucked up."
Ariel's eyes soften and she kisses the top of Anna's head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply—"
"I know," Anna sighs. She takes a deep breath and shakes out her hands. "Talking to Blizzard just stirred up my memories, is all."
That hasn't been happening as often, has it? Anna ponders. She still has trouble sleeping, but it's becoming easier to deal with her demons than it used to be. She glances at Ariel. Is it because I have friends again?
A roar echoes through the hallway, far too loud for comfort, and both Anna and Ariel leap away from the wall. They wait a moment, listening. They hear a distinct clicking sound and a faded:
"Stormfly! Get back here!"
Anna and Ariel fall into fighting stances, standing back to back.
"I don't have my spear," Ariel says, as if Anna wasn't already aware.
"And I can only use super strength," Anna replies.
"I can submerge the area in water," Ariel suggests.
"Until we know what's happening, let's not," Anna says. "And if it does come to that, please keep me out of it. I'd rather not get this far only to go out by drowning."
Stormfly rounds the corner so fast she slams into the wall. She pauses long enough to shake herself out, and then her slitted pupils zero in on Anna. Anna nudges Ariel with her foot, and the marine meta glances over her shoulder.
"Oh," Ariel airs and turns around to resume her fighting stance beside Anna. "I wouldn't think she'd want to take us on again, considering what happened last time."
Anna's lip twitches and her vision blurs. Is the Nar trying to reassert itself on her system?
"I think I'm compromised," Anna says, and her voice is enough to launch the dragon into action. Stormfly charges at them full tilt and releases a screech that has Anna gritting her teeth.
"Don't you dare take me for a fool, ape."
Anna's eyes widen and she holds out her hand in reflex to the memory. "I only want to talk!" she screams, as if that makes sense. "Meli, listen to me!"
Maleficent's eyes widen and she stumbles over herself, but then Anna blinks and the illusion is gone. Stormfly is picking herself off the floor, her pupils blown and a purr rumbling in her throat.
Ariel tilts her head and sends Anna a bemused look. "What did you do?"
Poorly deal with suppressed memories, apparently, Anna thinks. Today is just not my day. "I don't kn—"
"What the fuck did you just call my dragon?"
The Elites glance to the end of the hallway, where an irate, black and blue Axe stands with a fire burning in her eyes. She limps forward with purpose, air hissing out of her broken and crooked nose in time with her mounting anger.
"I'm not sure what you're talking about," Anna says.
"Mate!" Axe snarls. "You called my dragon your fucking mate!"
Anna's brain flatlines for a moment and then she frowns. "Is that what that means?"
Axe throws her hands in the air halfway. Anna suspects it hurts too much for the dragon rider to lift them higher. "How the fuck do you not know what you said? It's not like you were speaking bird!"
Right, Anna thinks. All Berk natives have a natural understanding of every language ever created. "For the sake of curiosity, what do you think I said?"
Axe's eyes flash. "Think? Think? You said 'my mate', you called my dragon your fucking mate, you sick fuck!"
"Meli means 'my mate', huh?" Anna murmurs. "Who knew."
"You just said the same thing twice!" Axe bellows. "How the fuck does that make any fucking sense!"
Ariel lays a hand on Anna's shoulder and takes a step forward. "Vikke, prepare to identify language." She turns to Axe. "Just what is so bad about the word 'Meli'?"
Axe snarls and starts spouting an answer in a different language. Ariel waits a good minute before holding up her other hand and saying, "That's enough. Vikke, can you identify language?"
"The word 'oogial' is identified as ancient draconic with thirty-seven percent certainty," Vikke says, picking out one word from Axe's rant. "Holds slim ties to the current day Berkian written language. No direct translation is known. Pure version of the language was thought to have died several millennia ago."
"Pure version?" Anna asks, then shakes her head. "Wait, never mind, I don't care." She turns to Ariel. "This does give us the unique opportunity to get a new language translation for the system. Axe may not know she's speaking in different languages, but we can have her repeat the same phrase in the two different languages by prompting the switch like you just did."
"I'll never help you, you goddamn dragon fucker," Axe snarls.
Anna frowns. "I feel like that would mean more if I hadn't worked with Black Dragon."
If possible, Axe's snarl increases further. "I grew up hearing tales of that monster. I heard she died. Are you telling me she still lives?"
This might be why Maleficent was adamant about keeping her name out of official correspondence with Berk, Anna thinks. "No, she doesn't. Arson killed her four years ago."
Axe appears to take a mental step back. "Well," she says, "I suppose only evil can kill evil of Black Dragon's calibre."
"I suppose," Anna says. She points at Stormfly who has been inching forward this whole time. "Stay." The dragon's shoulders slump, but she does what she's told.
Axe's ire returns. "Don't give orders to her."
Anna raises her hands in surrender. "I'm sorry, and I'm sorry for calling Stormfly my mate. An associate of the old Elites used to refer to Black Dragon like that all the time but they weren't mated, as it were, so I suspected the meaning was different."
Axe sneers. "If Black Dragon had a mate, I can assure you they'd be dead by morning."
If Jennifer hadn't brain fucked her I'm sure someone would have died, Anna allows, but it wouldn't have been me. "If you have time, I'd like to hear some of the stories you've heard of her. In the time I knew her she never did anything too extreme, so I'm interested in what she did while on your planet."
Most of Berk's history is oral, and very little is written down. It made it hard for the old Elites to figure out much about them besides the information Maleficent supplied.
Wait, Anna thinks, her mental process skidding to a halt, is Maleficent the reason dragon hunting became so predominant, or did she become who she was because dragon hunting was so prevalent?
"Not interested," Axe snaps. "Don't like you."
"That's fine," Anna says. She isn't sure she'd want to hear about it anyway.
"Executioner's Axe," Vikke says, shocking Anna. "I have several artifacts in inventory with text that I am unable to translate. Would you be willing to help me?"
"No," Axe grunts. She turns heel and starts limping away. "Stormfly, come." She glares at Anna over from over her shoulder. "And you stay the fuck away from her, you hear me?"
"Tweet tweet," Anna deadpans.
Axe frowns. "What?"
"Huh," Anna airs. "So you really can't understand bird, eh? I'm going to have to invest in learning that then." Plus it would be interesting to see if Axe can understand a newly created language or not.
Axe scowls and continues stalking away. "Go fuck yourself."
"I would rather fuck your dragon!" Anna sings back, even though she knows it will bite her in the ass later.
Axe stops dead in her tracks and whips around with her axe at the ready. Where was she even keeping it? "The fuck did you just say, you little cunt?"
Or it'll bite me in the ass right now. Anna smiles and bounces on her toes. "Come get me, feisty. I like playing rough." She channels her inner villain and blows the queen a kiss. "You can join in and make it a threesome."
Ariel's eyebrows shoot into her hairline and she gives Anna a look. "Going a bit far, don't you think?" she asks in a whisper.
The door to Elsa's room opens and Rapunzel, with her helmet on, steps out. The healer glances at Anna and nods back into the room. "You can come ba—"
"I'll kill you, you fucking whore!" Axe roars, and charges the villain as if she weren't injured at all. Anna will admit, Axe has to be damn good at compartmentalizing pain to be able to do that.
Rapunzel jolt and she whips her head at the charging Berkian and dragon. "What the hell did you do?" the healer demands. "You were only out here for three minutes!"
"I'm really good at making friends," Anna fires back.
"I can submerge them," Ariel suggests again.
A slow smirk curls Anna's lips like a wire contorting in fire. "No," she says. "I've been wanting to beat something to a pulp."
