Chapter 4
"Are you ready?" Karla asked, as she stepped into the doorway. The sun had gone down by now, and carefully opening the shutters had proven, it was the sunlight that was the problem. So, they decided, they could now go out and do the testing.
"I think so." Was Carmilla´s answer, not looking away from her reflection. She was wearing some of her older clothes in case anything got damaged in the testing they were about to do. Some baggy jeans that had seen more than a few spills of something and a wide black hoodie to hide her form and it allowed her to cover her hair with the hood. Thinking about her hair brought back a question from earlier.
"Hey, why didn't you ever say something about the changes to my appearance?" Carmilla asked Karla, finally shifting her gaze from the mirror to the door. Karla stood there, wearing roughly the same as her, except that her hoodie was blue instead of black.
"You mean the hair and eyes?" Asked Karla.
"Yeah. And the skin as well." Answered Carmilla.
"The changes weren't that big. Didn't even notice it at first. But after that, I didn't want to worry you even more than you already were. And it isn't like it made you look any worse." Karla answered easily. "And what do you mean about the skin? Looks like you got a bit paler than before, but I just thought you were to close to fainting from the stress."
"I understand your reason, but it would have been nice to know. Nearly got a heart attack when I looked in the mirror." Carmilla was both annoyed and thankful for the concern Karla showed for her. "And yes, your skin got a bit paler, but it also took away any blemish or acne. It even took away a scar I had since my childhood."
"Good thing you can still see yourself in the mirror then. Some vampires in the stories of old didn't have a reflection." Karla said amused. "And I don't really see an issue with the skin touch-up. It's like you got the world's best face mask. Many women would kill just for that."
"It's not really a problem, it was just a shock." Carmilla said, somewhat defensively.
"Hey don't feel bad. I'm just making a bit of fun." Karla said, noticing how uncomfortable Carmilla suddenly was. "I can't even imagine how you must feel. Waking up with a different face must be jarring. Thankfully, it was just a slight improvement, not a completely new face."
"Mhm" Agreed Carmilla. Once again looking at the mirror and taking in the changes, she had to agree with Karla, it had been an improvement. Not that she had been ugly before, but now she was truly beautiful.
"So, with the crisis about your looks over, are you ready to go?" Karla asked again, clearly excited about what they were planning to do. Not that Carmilla could fault her, she herself was kinda curious about what exactly she could do. It better be good, to make up for the restrictions on food and the sun.
"Yes, let's do this." Carmilla said, shooting one last look at the mirror before walking out of her room. Karla kept a few steps ahead as not be to close and trigger her bloodthirst.
After leaving the apartment they turned onto the main road and headed in the direction of the docks. Karla talked about knowing some old storage halls that have stood abandoned for years.
While walking next to Karla, Carmilla constantly looked around. Checking alleys for gang members and also looking out for any police or PRT cars. While she didn't think anyone could point her out for the murders she couldn't be sure. Not with thinkers and tinkers around.
"Stop looking like you have got something to hide." Karla chided her, noting her friend constantly looking over her shoulders. "If you are trying to look normal, stop, because you absolutely suck at it."
"That's easy for you to say." Carmilla bit back. "You don't have to be worried about someone locking you up for murder."
"You said you got rid of the bodies right?" Karla said, to which Carmilla nodded. "Did you see any cameras that could have filmed you?" Carmilla shook her head. "Then relax. Even if they found the bodies, they wouldn't bother to start a whole investigation just for some dead gangsters. But if you keep looking like you did something wrong, then they might stop us to find out what's up. So, Stand up straight. Stop looking over your shoulder and just act normal."
"Act normal? What a helpful piece of advice." Despite Carmilla's answer, she did try to straighten up and forced herself to look straight.
"Well, obviously it was helpful." Karla said in good humor. "Since you have stopped twitching around."
"Where are we going anyway?" Carmilla asked, not wanting to keep up that line of conversation. "You said something about some abandoned storage halls around here."
"Yup, there are some big halls in which they used to store building materials." Karla answered, turning off the main street and into a side street. Shooting a glance around before doing so, looking for any ambushes. "It has some big ass chains and locks on the doors, so there might still be some stuff in there that could help with the testing."
"If they are locked up so good, that they haven't been ransacked by now, how do we get in." Carmilla said, turning a corner with Karla and seeing the halls that she was talking about.
"Consider it your first test." Karla said amused. By now they had walked up to the big double doors, which were held together by long chains. She pointed at the lock that kept the chains together. "Can you break it off?"
"Maybe?" Carmilla said, although it sounded more like a question. The confidence she had built up over the day, had seemingly disappeared after the walk through the city.
"You said you lifted a steel plate up that covered the drains without any problem." Karla said, hoping to instill some confidence back into her friend. "Then a small lock shouldn't pose a challenge."
Carmilla decided to give it a shot and grabbed the lock in her hands. It was a fairly big lock, nearly the size of her hand, made out of what looked to be steel. She took a good grip and pulled.
"Huh." Said Carmilla surprised, as the lock ripped open. Not expecting how little resistance it gave.
"Well damn." Karla said approvingly. While she had believed her friend's story, hearing and seeing about something was completely different. "Talk about super strength. You didn't even look like you were straining yourself."
"I wasn't." Carmilla said, letting the ripped-off half of the lock fall to the ground. "I was surprised at how easy that was."
"Alexandria 2.0 here we come." Karla said jokingly. Having removed the chain from the doors, she pushed one side open. "I'm surprised how much control you seem to have about your powers. It looks like they are always exactly at the point you need. Unless, you have been hiding all the crushed items in your room."
"Eeeh, mostly yes." Carmilla said awkwardly, remembering how she nearly broke the couch. Although, it had only happened when she was lost in thoughts. "As long as I focus on it, I can pretty much dial in how much I need. It's the same with the senses. I'm extremely thankful for it, having to smell all the trash in absolute clarity would quickly become absolute hell."
"I can believe that." Karla agreed. She had noted her friend's awkwardness when she talked about breaking stuff, but decided to ask about it at a later date.
"So here we are." Karla said, sweeping her hand out and gesturing at some of the stuff laying around. Pointing at some steel beams and concrete slabs she said smugly. "Told you there might be some building material left."
"I'm not really sure I can lift that." Carmilla said, stepping closer to the steel beams. "These must be at least 10 meters long. They must weigh at least more than a ton."
"Probably more yeah." Karla said grinning, she was extremely excited. She hoped her friend would crush her expectations and lift these things with ease. "Let's test your strength first okay? Start with one and hopefully we can ramp it up from there."
"You want me to lift even more than one?" Carmilla asked unsure, she was looking at the I-Beams and was trying to figure out the best way to lift them, since they were too thick for her hands to grab.
"Just try one for now okay?" Karla said, realizing that she had to dial back her excitement a little, to avoid overwhelming her friend. Seeing Carmilla look at the beams, like she was trying to figure something out, she asked jokingly. "What's wrong? You've been looking at it for a while now, trying to see if you have telekinesis too?"
"No, I'm just not sure how to go about it." Carmilla asked, amused at her friend's comment. "The beam is so thick I don't think I can get a good enough grip on it."
Despite what she said, she placed her hands on the middle of the beam and curled her fingers to hopefully generate enough friction. An ear-deafening screech had her let go of the beams and look at her hands, hoping she didn't break anything.
What she saw were her nails, which were now looking like sharp claws. At least twice the size of her previous nails and coloured in a crimson red.
"Wow." Karla said, having come closer. She looked at Carmilla's hands and then at the steel beam which was now sporting ten deep gashes where her finger had been before. "It looks like your power solved that problem, about getting a good grip."
"Yeah" Carmilla said a bit dazed, still inspecting her nails, or claws now.
"Do you think you can suppress those, like the super senses?" Karla asked curiously. "Otherwise, wiping your ass is going to be difficult."
"I don't think I have to go to the toilet anymore." Carmilla said distractedly. "I haven't felt the urge since yesterday."
Ignoring Karla's surprised look, she focused on her nails, willing for them to return to normal. Even if wiping her ass wasn't a problem anymore, having claws on her fingers would make hiding her powers more difficult than before. At first, nothing happened, but ever so slowly the claws seemed to shrink until they reached the length they had before. Trying to change the colour back didn't work however and it looked like they would stay crimson. Not the worst thing that could happen, since she quite liked that colour.
"Ignoring your comment about the toilet, for now, that took quite a while to change back." Karla said, having observed how the claws changed back. "They did come out a lot quicker though, didn't they?"
"They did, yes." Carmilla said, flexing her hand and willing the claws to come out. They sprung out immediately. Trying to shrink them back down was still as slow as before. "Maybe because in a fight I would need them quickly, while I have enough time after a fight to change them slowly?"
"I guess. Nobody ever said powers have to make much sense." Karla joked. "Well, seeing as you now have an easy way to grab the beams, want to get back to strength testing?"
"Sure." Carmilla quipped, slowly getting as excited as Karla was, about testing her powers.
She placed her hand where the gauges from her previous try were, and tried to lift the beam up. While she felt a bit of resistance, it didn't stop her in the least, and she easily lifted it up.
"Holy Shit!" Karla exclaimed, seeing her friend curl a one-ton steel beam. "Do you feel any strain at all?"
"A little bit, but not much." Carmilla said. Lifting the steel beam up and down she started to laugh about the absurdity of it all. Here she was, not even 70 Kilogram, lifting a one-ton weight.
"Crazy." Karla breathed, before a grin formed on her face. "Want to try it with two?"
Carmilla matched her grin and placed the weight back down. Not saying anything she bent down and pressed her fingers into the beam below. Her claws easily pierced the metal, allowing her to get a good grip on it.
Standing up she had to balance a bit so the beam on top would not fall down, but quickly after she was once again lifting a weight up and down.
"This is awesome!" Carmilla exclaimed, while she did have to put some effort into it, she was still easily able to do it. "Let's try three."
"Sure, just be careful." Karla warned. "I don't want you to break your back or anything, trying to lift more than you should."
"Don't worry I'll be careful." Carmilla said, having placed the beams down and grabbing the third and lowest beam of the stack.
Grunting, she had to work quite a bit to lift it up, but she did manage it in the end. "I think this is the most I can do right now."
"You are deadlifting at least three tons right now. I don't think there is any brute in town that can do the same, except maybe Glory Girl and Lung." Kalra said, amazed at her friend's newfound strength.
"I read something about Glory Girl lifting up a cement truck. So, she could definitely do it and Lung as well, when he's ramped up." Carmilla said and while she wasn't the strongest, she was still happy about being in the top 5.
"Do you think you have the other aspect of a brute as well?" Karla asked, looking at Carmilla speculatively.
"What do you mean?" Carmilla asked, trying to remember what classified as a brute.
"The toughness. You didn't have any scratches after the Kitten swiped at you, so you probably have tougher skin than normal." Karla said.
"Sabrina, the kitten's name is Sabrina, you could at least remember her name after offering her up to be eaten. "How do you want to test the toughness of my skin anyway. Want to shoot at me to see if I'm bulletproof?
"Not going to let that go, aren't you?" Karla said resigned, before commenting on the last part. "Of course not, I'm not that crazy. But maybe try cutting yourself with a knife? You can start with light cuts in case you get hurt."
"Nope, not until you apologize to her for that." Carmilla answered the question with a wide grin.
While Karla shook her head at her friend's love for the cat, Carmilla pulled out her knife. Lightly placing it on the top of her arm to avoid any major blood vessel, she pushed it down. Gaining confidence, as she couldn't even pierce the top layer of her skin, she increased the pressure, until she feared the blade would snap under her improved strength.
"I said it before, and I say it again: Holy Shit!" Karla looked at the unblemished skin after Carmilla removed the blade, not seeing even the smallest of cuts. "Yup, you're definitely a brute. Try stabbing your hand?"
"You are getting way too much enjoyment out of this." Carmilla said, but couldn't quite hide her own grin.
She placed her hand flat on one of the steel beams and at first lightly poked it. Not doing any damage, she stabbed down a bit harder with the same amount of success. Putting more strength into the third try, she cried out in dismay as the blade snapped after being stopped by her skin.
"What is it?" Karla shouted concerned, not having seen the blade break off.
"My knife broke apart." Carmilla said sullenly, sad about the loss of her knife. However, not managing to wipe the grin off her face. She was stab-proof, how awesome is that. "Now I have to get a new one."
"You bitch, I thought you hurt yourself. Don't ever scare me like that again!" Karla said, her shock changing to annoyance. "And why would you need another knife, if your nail can rend steel apart?"
"Sorry." Carmilla said, not sounding sorry at all. "You are right. Why would I need another knife? I can throw away any mugger that tries something, and I am stab-proof."
"Good, you should feel sorry." Karla said, either not having noticed Carmilla's lack of sincerity or simply not caring. "Now, can you make me a bat or something from one of those steel beams? I want to hit you with it."
"What?" Carmilla reared back. "Why would you want to hit me?"
"Because you annoyed me, and we have to test your protection against blunt forces." Karla said, acting like her reasoning made total sense. "We would be hitting two birds with one stone, or well one of you with one bat, but you get my point."
"Not really." Carmilla said unsure, but she went over to the steel beams anyway. Karla's suggestions had so far played out well, and she was quite curious herself if she could take a blow from a bat.
Using her claws to slice out a lengthy chunk, she then squeezed the edges a bit to make sure Karla wouldn't cut herself on it. It resembled more a steel plank, than a bat-like Karla had requested, but it would do for some tests.
"Here you go." Carmilla said, as she handed Karla the piece of steel and then held out her arm. "Try swinging it at my arm but start slow please. I don't want to break anything."
"Don't worry Sweety." Karla said soothingly, while getting a feel for the "bat". "Despite what I said, I would never want to hurt you. Ready?"
"Yeah, do it." Carmilla said, looking away, as she heard the whoosh of the bat, before feeling a slight tap on her arm. "Huh?"
"Did you feel anything? Anything hurt?" Karla asked concerned.
"No, not at all really." Carmilla said looking where the bat hit her arm. There was some rust smudge on her hoodie, and she lifted it up to avoid it tearing with the next blow. Under the fabric was only unblemished skin. "Try it again, this time without the sleeve in the way."
"Okay, just tell me to stop if it gets too much." Karla said, lifting the bad once more.
This time Carmilla watched as the bat came down and while the tap was more noticeable, it didn't hurt in the least.
"Try harder." She said, getting excited about her power's protection.
Karla grunted as she swung, and once again it didn't seem to hurt Carmilla at all.
"Try on my stomach next. Maybe somewhere soft will be worse than on muscle and bone." Carmilla said, before adding something to reassure Karla. "I barely felt anything at all from that last one, so I don't think you can actually hurt me with that."
"Okay, if you´re sure." Karla said, lining up the bat. "Just don't complain, if it hurts this time."
Lifting the hoodie to not damage it, Carmilla stood still, while Karla put her all into the swing. The bat slammed into Carmilla and while it did unbalance her slightly it hadn't hurt in the least.
"Nothing? Nothing at all?" Karla exclaimed surprised that Carmilla barely even moved.
"Nope." Carmilla said, popping the "p" loudly. "This is awesome."
"Haha definitely." Karla said, the concern about hurting her friend changing into amusement. "We don't really have anything harder to test, but if that didn't do anything, you might even give Lung a run for his money. At least in the early stages of his rampage."
"While Lung's strength and toughness are certainly dangerous, it's his regeneration and the heat and fire he spews everywhere that does the most damage." Carmilla said, wondering why Karla constantly brought up Lung in comparison.
"Well, if you're stabproof and barely flinch at blunt force, maybe you're fireproof as well?" Karla asked curious about what else they could test.
"How would we test that?" Carmilla questioned her friend. "Want me to run into the next housefire we find?"
"Haha, god no." Karla answered, before taking out a lighter from her bag. "We can test it with this."
"A lighter?" Carmilla asked. "Why are you carrying a lighter, I didn't know you smoked."
"I don't." Karla shrugged. "But I figured we could test it like that, and if it doesn't hurt you, then we can extrapolate like with the knife and bat. You can take so much without problem, then the limit to the damage you can take has to be at least twice as high."
"I guess." Carmilla agreed a bit unsure, but she took the lighter from Karla anyway. "But just because I can't get hurt by a lighter doesn't mean Lung can't hurt me. I think his flames are much hotter than the flame of a lighter."
"At least we would now if you have some resistance." Karla said.
"True." Carmilla agreed and lit up the lighter. Moving her hand over the flame, she slowly lowered it down, ready to stop the moment she felt pain.
She did feel the heat, but even touching the flames brought no sign of pain or even discomfort.
"Anything?" Karla asked, the flame glittering in her eyes as she watched Carmilla move her hand through the flame without flinching.
"I can feel the heat, but it doesn't hurt at all." Carmilla said, amazement clear in her eyes. Looking at the underside of her hand she did note however. "It does leave some soot though. And I don't think my clothes would be fireproof. So if I was fighting Lung I would do so naked pretty quick."
"Haha, maybe that would help you." Karla said jokingly, the humor didn't reach her eyes however. "He might get distracted, but if you were to lose, he might not let you go afterward."
"Yeah, that would be bad. If I were still alive after losing at least." Carmilla agreed. She was reminded that no matter how awesome powers were, she was now part of the cape scene, and there were multiple monsters in human forms she would have to fight at some point.
"Let's shelve that thought for now." Karla said, not wanting to ruin all the fun they had testing Carmilla's power. "I guess we can say you have a fairly good brute package, and some striker as well, considering your claws and teeth."
"Oh yeah totally forgot about that. I might also have some venom or something like that, since the ABB goon didn't even fight back after I bit him." Carmilla said as she remembered something. "And how did you know about the power classifications? Didn't know you were a cape geek."
"Maybe, you might also just have drained him too much already, he might have fainted from blood loss. Seems strange that you could drain him that quickly. You must have sucked him really hard, to get the blood out that fast through some tiny tooth pricks." Karla snickered at her world play.
"Seriously? You are such a perv, laughing at such stupid jokes." Carmilla said exasperated.
"What?" Karla said innocently. "You know my job, I have to get my enjoyment from somewhere.
Carmilla just sighed, not wanting to go further with that argument. They've had it often enough. Trying to get back to the previous point she said. "Anyway, you didn't answer how you knew so much about the power classifications."
"I read them up a bit after you told me about your powers." Karla explained. "I figured it would be of use for the testing."
"I guess yeah." Carmilla agreed. "So I have the brute and striker package, what else? I don't think I can fly like a mover. Just thinking about it, like with my other powers doesn't do anything, and I'm not going to jump off somewhere to try to force it. Don't want to go splat for no reason."
"Awww, I was just about to propose that." Karla whined.
"I know." Carmilla said flatly. "That's why I said it."
"Spoilsport." Karla giggled. "But flying is not the only thing that classifies as a mover. Simply being able to change location fast is enough. So, either flying, teleportation or running really fast like Velocity."
"I don't think I can teleport." Carmilla hedged. "But I think the running really fast might be possible. I mean, super strength should equate to super speed as well, right? Unless the strength is only in the arms."
"Try it." Karla said, pointing at the other end of the storage hall. "Run over there and come back here, I'm going to stop the time, okay?"
"Sure." Carmilla said and stepped over to the wall, getting ready for a sprint. "Just say when."
"Alright." Karla took out her phone and opened the stopwatch app. "Ready? Set. Go!"
As soon as she heard go, Carmilla put all her strength into her legs and pushed off. Rushing over to the far wall, she misjudged her breaking distance and slammed into the wall, leaving a slight dent in the sheet metal. Turning around she hurried back, this time slowing down earlier so she stopped just shy of the wall, tapping it to signal Karla to stop the timer.
"And?" Carmilla asked, curious about her time, as well as once more being amazed about her resilience. She didn't even feel bruised because of the impact on the far wall.
"Jesus Girl. If you were black, I would think you are Usain Bolts daughter." Karla said amazed. "I would say the length is about 25 meters so 50 meters in total. And you did that in less than five seconds. That's roughly what a human peak athlete could do, but you did with slowing down as well."
"What?" Carmilla could barely believe it. "I thought I was much slower, also I couldn't really get a good grip on the ground. So, I might even be faster with some better shoes."
"As if that wasn't fast enough already." Karla said, her friend's power no longer managing to surprise her. "That's definitely a mover 1 rating at least. Maybe even Mover 2 if you can keep it up for longer periods of time, or get even faster. You don't seem winded about it either."
"I'm not." Carmilla said cheerfully, not breathing hard in the least. "Felt like I could go on for much longer."
"So, we got Brute, Striker, and Mover." Karla surmised. "Do you think you could do anything else? Maybe some blood magic like some of the vampires in the stories?"
"How would I even go about testing that?" Carmilla wondered. "Just focus onto it?"
"How should I know?" Karla said amused. "You're the one with the powers."
"You had all the other ideas so far." Carmilla argued, before continuing. "I don't feel anything when I try to will anything made from blood into existence. So maybe I don't have it, or it will only work when I need it. Like with the claws. I didn't really know I could grow them out, but when I needed it, it worked. So, I guess we just shelve that idea for now."
"I don't really have any ideas for this one. So, I guess shelving blood magic it is." Karla agreed.
"So that's it? Ready to go home?" Carmilla said, while somewhat sad she couldn't do magic, she was still extremely pleased about the extent of her power.
"I want to test one more thing." Karla said, surprising Carmilla, who looked on as she rummaged through her purse. "It might seem silly but just to make sure."
"A cross?" Carmilla said, after seeing what Karla pulled out.
"Exactly." Karla said holding out the cross as if to fend off a demon. "Feel anything?"
"No?" Carmilla said unsure, before realizing what Karla was talking about. "You want to test the typical weaknesses of vampires? Since sunlight seems to be a problem?"
"Exactly." Karla said, feeling a bit silly waving a wooden cross around. "So? Anything?"
"Not really no." Carmilla shrugged, taking the cross in hand when Karla handed it over. "What next holy water?"
"I couldn't find any, so no. But it would be the religious part about it that would be the issue. And if the cross doesn't hurt then I doubt the holy water does either." Karla said, before pulling something else from her bag. "Next we try garlic."
"Oh no. Not Garlic." Carmilla exclaimed in fake dismay, not feeling anything as Karla handed her the clove.
"Yeah, yeah, you just laugh." Karla defended her desire to be thorough. "You wouldn't be laughing if Armsmaster defeated you by using a garlic spray."
"Well, true." Carmilla had to agree. That would have been a stupid way to lose. "So silver next? Do you also have a sliver knife hidden in that bag?"
"Not a knife no, but I got this." Karla said, when she pulled out a box which she opened to reveal a necklace.
"That is beautiful." Carmilla exclaimed, never before seen the necklace on her friend. "Why have I never seen you wear it?"
"It's from my grandmother." Karla said sadly. "She gave it to me a few weeks before she died. I didn't want to lose it to a mugger, so I never put it on. But it's the only thing we own that's made of silver in our flat, so…"
She held out the box, indicating Carmilla to take it.
"Hope I don't get burned by it, or even worse I burn it." Carmilla said, while carefully lifting the necklace out of the box.
The moment she held it she noticed a strange sensation. "There is definitely something." She spoke. "It feels extremely itchy. So, unless I had an undiscovered silver allergy, I actually have a weakness to silver. It doesn't burn or anything, but it´s definitely uncomfortable."
She carefully handed the necklace back to Karla. The moment the necklace left her hand, the itching stopped.
"Sunlight and silver then." Karla said, closing the box and placing it back in her purse. "No one really uses silver as weapons so unless people find out you are a vampire, you should be good."
"I don't think I can hide that very long." Carmilla said. "My powers are too distinctive. My aversion to sunlight and my thirst for blood will probably get out at some point."
"That is true." Karla agreed. "And I could bet that Armsmaster would quickly make a halberd out of silver just for you."
"I guess I just don't have to get hit." Carmilla said. "At least Kaiser's metal creations aren't made of silver. That would counter me hard."
"I'll try to get my hands on a silver knife or fork, just so we can see, if it can stab through your skin easier." Karla decided. "Until then just assume that silver is your Kryptonite and we should be fine."
"As long as it doesn't take away my powers just from being close, I'm okay with that." Carmilla joked. "So that's it then? Super strength, senses and some speed, as well as claws and teeth. Not bad for a superpower."
"I would say so, yeah." Karla agreed. "If your skin could hold up to bullets, you should, with some training, be able to take all, except maybe the top 10 capes of the city, in a fight. And who knows maybe your powers get stronger the more blood you drink or the older you get. That seems to be a fairly constant thing throughout most vampire myths."
"I didn't even think about that." Carmilla exclaimed exited, before quickly calming down. "But I would need a regular source of blood for that."
"We can worry about that can of problems tomorrow." Karla said, while walking to the door. "It's been a long and exciting day, what do you say we head home now? Don't want to be too late, or we might get mugged again."
"I would like to see them try." Carmilla said, a sudden deadly edge to her voice. "I'm no longer the helpless girl from yesterday. Anyone that tries it will end up the same."
"That's my girl." Karla laughed. Happy that her friend seemed to have found their confidence once more. "Let's go home."