Anne never liked coffee. She didn't like the bitter taste, didn't like the buzz it would give her, didn't like how shaky and jittery and hyperaware she'd feel afterwards. She'll never drink it just for the sake of drinking it. If she has to drink it, then it better be for a good reason, like if a deadline was coming up and Marcy won't be able to finish their assignments on her own but she never said anything about it until the night before the deadline so Anne and Sasha had to scramble over to Marcy's place at, like, midnight and finish it together in a fuzzy blur.
Calamity energy (as Marcy had dubbed it) is like coffee, but better, and worse.
It doesn't have a taste, fortunately. But the buzz was all-consuming, permeating her body from the scalp of her head to the tips of her toe. Her senses were forced into overdrive, keeping her too awake and too alert, better than caffeine ever could. Sometimes she felt she should go insane, just from how much of everything she perceived; like the droplet of sweat trailing down from her forehead to her cheek to the edge of her chin, or the way her ratty uniform and armor and sheath strap chafed against her skin with every motion she made, or the hairline fractures she left in the concrete with every stomp of her feet.
It could all get very distracting. And distractions were the last thing she needed when heading to a potential scuffle.
Ah, well. At least it helped her keep track of Owlbert.
The little owl was flying overhead a few feet ahead of her. Little guy's trying his best, but Anne still had to slow down a few times when she overtook him. It sorta reminded her of spending hours chasing after pigeons in the park when she's a toddler. Never imagined she'd ever beat any bird in a footrace, even though Owlbert wasn't, y'know, actually a bird. Or was he? She's still not exactly sure how palismans work.
Anyway. Having superpowers friggin' rules. Never got that from coffee.
As Owlbert banked left on an intersection with Anne tailing close behind, past a person-running-a-cashier corner store, the road opened up ahead, leading to an expanse of vibrant green. The city park.
Anne stumbled upon the park once before, during her initial sweep of the city. The verdant green of the grass and the trees drew her in, a stark contrast to the ocean of concrete everywhere else in the city. She thought this might be the only spot in the city with any semblance of life, at first glance, but her senses quickly told her otherwise. She sensed nothing within. The trees were plastic, fake, the grass synthetic - too green to be real. This park was as dead as the rest of the city.
No, not dead. Dead meant it was alive once. This city never lived to begin with.
Also, from above, the park's shaped like a person tilling the land. Or so Luz claimed.
But she sensed something now. A pulse of life, faint, distant, somewhere in there.
Anne shouted a quick thanks to Owlbert before sprinting past him with a sudden burst of speed, barely hearing a surprised and indignant squawk from somewhere behind her.
She stuck close to the provided footpath as she navigated further into the park. The fake vegetation got a lot thicker a lot quicker than she expected. Before long, she'd already completely lost sight of Owlbert, and the rest of the city. But the life she sensed only grew stronger, closer, so she must still be on the right track.
The footpath ended in a roundabout clearing, connected to three other paths leading elsewhere in the park. In the center of the roundabout was an ivory fountain, an intricate water feature left dry and unused. Anne skidded to a halt just before the edge of the treeline. There, hunched over unmoving by the fountain almost like a corpse, Anne saw her.
Long, wild, ginger locks spilling out from under a broken space-age biking helmet. An ensemble of pink and white and neon green looking almost like a space suit or a superhero costume. A chestplate cracked down the middle still proudly carrying the number '12' in bold pink. A scratched up hockey stick lying by her feet. She looked so much worse than the last time Anne saw her.
"Twelve!"
Her head snapped up to attention at the sound of her name, her eyes darting in panic until they spotted Anne. Despite the worrying state that she's in, it seemed she's at least alive and conscious. Anne breathed a sigh of relief.
And groaned in annoyance when the first thing Twelve did was scramble to her feet, snatch up her hockey stick, and bolt in the opposite direction.
Here we go again.
Catching up to her was hardly an issue. Instead, Anne leapt over Twelve, landing on the other side with a clean three pointer, cutting off her escape route. The panicky girl jumped back, bracing her hockey stick in a defensive stance. Anne had to say her pitch, fast. She knew her time before Twelve tried to escape again, or worse, resorted to violence, was short.
"Would you just-! Gimme, like, five seconds to talk!"
"Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Twelve roared, but taking two steps back as she did. Up close, she looked like she's been through Hell. Her eyes were bloodshot, with enough dark bags under it to rival Marcy at her worst. Her arms were little more than skin stretched thin over bone. Her footing was unsteady, like she's a stiff breeze away from collapsing. When was the last time she slept? Or ate? The girl had to be running on fumes at this point.
Anne sighed. She let the energy buzzing inside her subside, let her senses revert to normal. All that talk about not wanting to spook Twelve, and that's exactly what she did the second she met her. She made a calming motion with her hands. "Dude, just hear me out, will ya?"
"No," she spat. The knuckles wrapped around the hockey stick turned white. "Now, move! Before I make you."
Anne tried not to sound smug, or patronizing. "You know you can't."
"I will!" Twelve stamped her feet, teeth bared. It was an intimidating sight, maybe, to someone other than Anne.
Anne thinned her lips into a line, and breathed in, and out. "Okay. Maybe we got off on the wrong foot. Why don't we just… start over? Pretend this is the first time we met?" She put on a smile and opened her arms welcomingly. "Hi. Name's Anne, and you must be Twelve! I'm stuck in this weird world, same as you, but! I think, if we work together, we can absolutely find a way out of here. How's that sound?"
Twelve, much to Anne's lack of surprise, voiced her stubborn thought with a short, succinct, "No."
"Twelve, dude, I'm trying. I'm really trying. You gotta give me something back," Anne said wearily.
Twelve's eyes narrowed dangerously, her grip on the hockey stick adjusting as she snarled, "The only thing I'm giving you is a hockey stick to the face."
Which won't do a thing, but Anne didn't say that out loud. "I legit don't get why you're acting so hostile," she said, shaking her head. "Seriously, did I do something to you? The last two times we met have been nothing but you screaming at me."
Something different crept into the anger in Twelve's eyes. Something wet that made her eyes glassy. Hurt. She looked hurt. "You said I have several screws loose. Said I should get myself checked. You called me a lunatic!"
Anne was ready with a retort, but the way Twelve's voice cracked held her tongue, and sent her flashing back to their second meeting. The slug-like beast that Anne bested moments before encountering Twelve again. The loud, long-winded, disjointed rant that Anne quickly dismissed as nonsense ramblings. The insults she hurled at Twelve through grumbles and mutterings under her breath.
She didn't think Twelve could hear her. Not that any of it was okay to say. "I… did. I did do that. And I'm sorry."
Twelve blinked, like she didn't expect this to happen. Like this wasn't something that happens often with her. Suddenly, Anne realized how small Twelve was. How young she looked. Suddenly, Anne had a feeling this girl might be younger than her.
"I was tired, and annoyed, and angry. Which didn't excuse any of what I said! Not one bit. I messed up bad. I'm sorry," Anne finished. Mincing around the issue was useless. The things she said were terrible and awful, that's final. Now it's up to Twelve to accept her apology.
Twelve's guard visibly lowered. Her stance changed, the distance between her feet shrinking. Her hockey stick fell to her side, not completely letting go but not holding onto it like her life depended on it either. She scratched the corner of her puffed cheek, staring at things that wasn't Anne.
"Well… d-don't do it again. Ever. Forever and ever," she said, stumbling over her words, like this wasn't something that she does often.
"I promise," Anne replied, ready with a smile when Twelve looked her way.
Twelve's pasty cheeks suddenly turned bright red. Been seeing that a lot lately. Wonder why. "This doesn't mean I'm joining you or anything," she said quickly, pouting. "For all I know, you could have something to do with this place getting all messed up."
So she hasn't completely broken through just yet. The corners of Anne's smile curled downwards ever so slightly. "I guarantee you, I know exactly jack about what's going on."
"Mhm. Sure." Twelve crossed her arms, or tried to, because she stubbornly refused to let go of her hockey stick. "I know a liar when I see one."
"If I do know what's going on, why would I be bothering you?" Anne reasoned.
"To mess with me and slow me down," Twelve shot back with an accusatory stare that really just gets on your nerves. "Liar."
Anne's eye twitched. "I am not lying."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes! You are!"
"I. Am. Not."
"Yuh-uh!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Uh-huh!"
"Don't you uh-huh my nuh-uh!" Anne released a wordless groan to the sky, hands clawing and pulling at the tangles of her hair. "God! What are you, five?!"
Her left hand immediately flew down to cover her mouth. Her chest seized with sudden regret. Dammit, literally not ten seconds after she promised. Twelve continued to glare, silently pointing a finger at the number on her chestplate.
"No, I meant, like-" A sudden thought stopped Anne from finishing the sentence. "Wait, is there actually a Five somewhere? Is that how you got the name?"
A beat passed with Twelve silently, blankly staring. "This is a waste of my time," she said, turning on her heels to leave in the opposite direction. "I've got better things to do."
Anne didn't use her powers this time. She jogged up to Twelve and held her back with a hand on her shoulder, like how a normal person would do it. "Finding your friends, right?" she guessed, and was most likely correct. "Me too. We can work together! I'll help you find your friends, you'll help me find mine."
Twelve recoiled away from Anne's touch, fixed her with a glare for a moment, before storming off. "I can do this by myself! I don't need you messing with how I do things!" she screamed back.
Anne watched the distance grow between them, jaws clenching. "And you've been doing your thing for, what, ten days? More, right? How's your progress looking so far?" she fired. The question pierced right through Twelve's armor.
Twelve froze in place. Anne couldn't see her face, but the panic emanating from her was palpable. When she spoke, she's quieter that she's ever been. "I just. Need to look harder."
"Twelve, you can't possibly search through this entire world by yourself. You can't even search through this city by yourself!"
Twelve whirled around, glassy-eyed, to hurl a shrill, "Watch me!"
Twelve swallowed so loud that Anne could hear it. She frantically rubbed the back of her torn-up fingerless gloves against her eyes before a tear could leak out. Anne regretted ever being angry or annoyed at her even more. All Anne could see now was a lost girl, scared for herself, scared for her friends. She knew the feeling well.
"Twelve, if this place really does go on forever, then our best bet is sticking together."
"How would you know how this place works?" Twelve muttered darkly, even as her eyes began to water again.
"I don't. I got that from you." Anne had dredged that up from what little she could parse of Twelve's words from their previous two meetings. That detail was among the ones that stuck out to her the most. "You said it yourself. This place doesn't have an end."
Twelve sniffed. Paused. "What?"
"You said this world is endless."
There was second, shorter pause. Twelve's expression twisted, panicked distress melting to give way to indignant anger, like Anne had just said the stupidest thing she'd ever heard in her life.
"This world is called Endless!" She spread her arms wide, to the whole world around her. "This! Is! Endless Island!"
Two brain cells made a spark in Anne's head.
Ohhhhh. Endless, with a capital 'E'.
Oooh boy, that's kinda embarrassing.
Welp. There's your reason for why the box didn't choose her for her wit.
Lucky for Anne, Twelve was too busy launching into another frantic tirade to notice her reddening cheeks.
"But it's all messed up and wrong! I can't find Brown Roger! Or Flaps! Or Mack and Beefhouse! Dr. Champion, Tasty Troy, Guy Pleasant, Borbo; they're all gone! It's not supposed to get dark! This city isn't supposed to exist! The desert isn't supposed to be there! And my key isn't working!"
The stream of words leaving Twelve hit a high-pitched crescendo, stopping only because she's panting so quickly and heavily Anne's almost certain she's on the verge of hyperventilating. Her eyes had lost focus. She's clutching her hands against her cracked chestplate, hockey stick forgotten and left clattering to the ground. Anne was ready to rush in if she actually collapsed.
"I'm all messed up and wrong too! I'm supposed to be the hero! I'm supposed to be strong, a-and fast, and-" A sob wracked her entire body, sending her to her knees. Anne would've been by her side if not for Twelve's eyes regaining their focus to glare at her, pupils turning into tiny pinpricks. "Me! Not you!"
Before, the outburst would have provoked Anne. Now, she just wanted to give Twelve a hug. "Twelve, this is all really scary, I know, I've been there. I don't know what, or why, or how it happened, and I'm kinda scared myself. But if you come with us, we-"
"You took it."
Anne's words died in her throat as Twelve's voice dropped, turning dark like a terrible nightmare.
"You took it! Didn't you?!" Twelve growled. It's scary how much she sounded like an actual animal. "O-or the Butt Witch took it! And gave it to you!"
A noise almost left Anne. Even in the midst of the mess that this devolved into, that last part stuck out like a sore, malformed thumb. "The what what?"
"You're working with the Butt Witch! Aren't you?!" Another accusation, with that name brought up again. Was it even a name? Who would choose a name like that?
Twelve bared her teeth. It's all going downhill, fast. Anne barely had time to scramble for the handle. "Dude, what-?"
Before shit went flying off of it.
Twelve snatched up her hockey stick. Her charge was angry. Loud. Sloppy. She's aiming for Anne's left temple.
Energy flowed. Experience did the rest.
The stick never came close to her head. Her right hand caught it in the middle of its arc, and kept it there. Twelve balked, making a choking noise from the back of her throat. Her eyes went wide, glassy enough now that the blue glow could be reflected off of it, but suddenly narrowed dangerously. She pulled, giving her all to free the stick from Anne's grip, to no avail. A wordless growl escaped her. She dug the heels of her feet into the ground, gritted teeth on full display, and pulled again. Anne didn't budge an inch.
"No!" she screamed, voice cracking and growing hoarse from all the screaming she did, but she never stopped, punctuated with attempt after attempt to free her hockey stick. "I'm the one! Who gets to be! Super strong!"
Anne kept her face stoic and neutral with every last bit of willpower she has. The sight was getting sadder by the second.
"Give me back my powers! My friends! My world!"
No, that's enough. Anne couldn't watch this poor girl breaking down any further. Her grip twisted and she pulled. The stick slipped out of Twelve's trembling fingers, the girl stumbling forward slightly from the force. She immediately jumped back, like she's only now realizing that Anne was much, much stronger than she was. The fear in her eyes was something Anne never wanted to see again.
Anne closed the distance. Twelve flinched, shrunk, squeezed her eyes shut.
Anne wasn't sure what Twelve expected. Probably not a hug, judging from how she completely locked up like a statue when Anne wrapped her arms around her. Anne kept the energy flowing through her body. Sasha and Marcy said she's warmer that way. Maybe that's what Twelve needed.
"Them's fighting words for someone within hugging distance. Before you ask, no, I'm not mad at you. I get how you feel," she muttered, gently, to Twelve's ear. "You're scared - for this world, for your friends, for yourself. You've been out on your own for god knows how long, doing whatever you can to survive, in a world that's not yours. Messed up as it is, I know exactly how that feels."
Anne pulled away, but still kept Twelve at arm's length. She still looked like she's in shock. But that's better than being lost in hysteria, Anne supposed. "But then I got help. They were strangers to me too, which I guess is scary in a different way, but they really did help me, and everything really started getting better for me with their help."
At some point in her little speech, Anne realized she's basically equating herself, Luz, and Tulip with the Plantars, and suddenly she's worried if they could clear a bar that high.
"I'm not going to force anything on you, but please Twelve, we need-"
Anne was cut off by a sudden sharp peck on her cheek, and Twelve wasn't the culprit.
Owlbert fluttered in place to her left, wearing what must be the owl equivalent of a frown. Twelve jumped in her embrace, but after the initial surprise, she looked more bewildered than scared at this little owl that suddenly appeared.
"Owlbert, not now," shooed Anne, returning her attention to Twelve.
Wrong answer, according to Owlbert, because he darted in to pull at her hair with his talons. She retaliated with a swipe of her hand. He swerved out of the way unscathed, the lucky little menace.
"Alright, sorry I ditched you, but I'm kinda in the middle of something here," Anne hissed, while Twelve silently stared at the strange exchange. Owlbert's still glowering at her as best as an owl could as she turned to Twelve with her composure regained.
Anne managed half a word before Owlbert landed on her pauldrons and started rapping his beak against the side of her neck like a woodpecker. It didn't hurt, but with her senses amplified, it was distracting as hell.
She brushed Owlbert off of her, and snapped none too nicely, "Oh my god, what?"
Owlbert didn't hoot or chirp or make any noise. He silently looked at Anne, then at Twelve, then back at Anne, and slowly shook his head. Something dark and cold shot down Anne's spine.
A pulse of life. Not right in front of her. Not Twelve's. But somewhere behind her to her left, creeping closer to the edge of the clearing. She'd been too preoccupied with Twelve to notice it until now. She snapped her head at its direction, and the pulse repositioned itself, circling to the opposite end of the clearing with inhuman speed. The human eye would only see fake shrubs and trees, but for a split second, through the shade and the greens, Anne spotted a glimpse of dark pink fur.
"Twelve wasn't who you saw, was it?"
Anne sensed, rather than saw, Owlbert shaking his head.
Twelve's trembling voice cut through the grim silence. "W-what's going on?"
Anne Boonchuy heard Twelve's question. Gemheart seized the hilt of the sword on her back without hesitation . The Star of Calamity gave the answer in a low, dangerous growl.
"It's her."
Tulip perked up when the barrier dispersed maybe five minutes after Anne left the apartment. She expected Luz to immediately take the chance, running to the balcony and chasing after Anne with a scolding at the ready, but no. Luz rose to her feet, took quick two steps as if to give chase, paused, then seemed to be content with pacing up and down the corridor.
Come to think of it, the apartment door hadn't been blocked in any way. Luz could have easily gone after Anne even before the barrier dropped. She just chose not to.
Tulip's curiosity moved her tongue, like it often did. "You're not going after Anne?"
Luz stopped just short of completing lap thirty one. She looked over her shoulder, at the glass door and the balcony, and answered heavily, "I don't know."
"But you were dead set on going with Anne earlier," Tulip said, halfway between a reminder and a question.
"I knoooow," Luz deflated, plopping down to sit cross-legged in the middle of the corridor. She spent a few seconds staring at the balcony, chin half-buried in the collar of her cape, contemplating something - what, Tulip couldn't tell for the life of her - before turning to Tulip on the living room couch.
"Thing is, Anne… just has a sense for these things," Luz said, the words a result of firsthand memory. "You look at her and you can just tell - she's been in more fights than she should be. She's got the experience, y'know?"
Tulip was inclined to agree, and not just for fights. Anne simply has more experience than she should. The life she lived was at least double her age. "So you do trust the call she made."
Luz nodded, slow at first, but quickly gaining speed and confidence. "And with those frog prophecy powers of hers, she's pretty much unbeatable!"
As far as Tulip could tell, Luz genuinely believed that. She has the utmost faith that Anne could not only fend for herself against anything this world throws at her, but also emerge victorious. And something told Tulip that faith wasn't earned through words alone. Luz has seen what Anne was capable of with her own eyes.
"But you're still worried?" And that was the issue that Tulip had just nipped right in the bud. Despite Luz's faith, "Something's making you worry."
Tulip wasn't sure what she hit, but she hit something. Luz pressed a closed knuckle against her lips, in almost the exact same way as she did during her story session earlier. It's what she does when she's holding something back. And she doesn't like keeping secrets.
"We…" Luz blew a sigh. Unlike before, now she'd given up on being tight-lipped, "there's one one more thing you need to know, Tulip."
Tulip leaned forward so fast in her seat she nearly gave herself whiplash. She wasn't expecting this, but she's all ears.
"Amity and Willow, Sasha and Marcy; they weren't simply separated from us." Luz paused. Swallowed. The dramatic effect was most likely unintentional. "They were… taken."
Tulip held back a blooming smile, but stars did twinkle in her eyes. Finally. "Yeah. You slipped that out, earlier."
"Er, yeah, we always planned on telling you. Just didn't want to freak you out by dumping too much stuff on you. But it's better if you know now," Luz explained with a tinge of regret. "There's this monster out there. Big, dark pink fur all over, three tails, four arms that are all misshapen and gross. She's stronger, faster, smarter than any other beast we've seen."
Tulip's eyebrow quirked. She?
"She took Amity and Willow. Took Sasha and Marcy." Luz closed her eyes. This hurt for her to say. To remember. "She ambushed me, Amity, and Willow right after we arrived. The only reason I wasn't taken with them was because I hid. Anne said Sasha and Marcy were picked off while they were split up. By the time Anne realized something's up, she's long gone."
Luz opened her eyes and, once again, harkened Tulip back to her story session in the worst possible way. To the time her eyes were clouded with fear.
"This monster - Anne and I have been calling her… the Jaguar."
Tulip tried not to focus on how this monster was able to rattle a revolutionary hero who toppled a monarchy, and more on things that doesn't scare the hell out of her.
"Why Jaguar?"
Luz shrugged. "She just looks like a jaguar. Like a really, really messed up, mutated jaguar." She breathed in, and breathed out. She's trying not to shudder. "I think Anne thinks she can take on the Jaguar in a fair fight."
"But you don't agree?"
Luz actually looked a bit irked. "I actually fought her. She's something else. Nothing in the Boiling Isles prepared me for her. I don't know if anything in Amphibia could prepare Anne."
Tulip hadn't actually heard much about the dangers that exist in Amphibia, but she's going to assume Anne had told Luz all about it. To hear Luz say so with such conviction didn't help with the cold sweat running down Tulip's back.
"If there's anything that can beat Anne-" Luz cut herself off with a grimace, like she's afraid saying it out loud would cause it to happen. "If a fight with the Jaguar has to happen, I'd feel a lot better if I'm there to fight with her."
Tulip wasn't sure if this was comforting at all - probably not - but she said anyway, "It might not be the Jaguar."
"No, don't- you're just tempting it."
"Tempting what?"
Luz gestured vaguely towards everything. "Fate. Destiny. Whoever's in charge of writing this story. The whole thing."
Tulip nearly asked if Luz really believed in those kinds of things, but held herself back. This was hardly the time nor the place to be discussing that. Instead, she resigned herself to watching Luz staring at the balcony, looking almost forlorn in her silence. She briefly wondered if Luz's anxiety, like her faith, came from experience too. That she once stayed back while someone she cared about went off to face danger on their own for her sake and got hurt, or worse.
A dark pit opened in Tulip's stomach. Sacrifices were made. That's what Luz said.
Tulip wanted to slap herself, and maybe Luz too, for that matter. Wallowing and digging themselves deeper into despair won't do them any good. Inferring from what Luz explained, then Anne's last encounter with the Jaguar was ten days ago, and Luz's was eight. What were the chances of that beast suddenly appearing again now, of all times? At best, it could really be Twelve or some other lost individual who'd found themselves stranded in this world. At worst, it could be some other terrible beast, that Anne would have no trouble dispatching. She could feel the pit in her stomach close, little by little.
Until she heard the explosion.
She thought it wasn't an explosion at first. Or maybe she wished too hard that it wasn't an explosion. Maybe it was a frying pan in the kitchen that fell over or something. But it felt too powerful, came from too far away. Luz shot to her feet like she'd been electrocuted, disappearing from sight in the direction of the balcony. Tulip stayed frozen for a beat more before she sprinted out of the room.
They both saw it. It was impossible for either of them to not notice. A faint trail of greyish-black against the startlingly clear blue sky, emanating from somewhere over the rows of human-shaped buildings.
"I-It's okay. Jaguars don't make explosions," Tulip shakily said, after noticing the fear and panic dawning on Luz's face, hoping it'll help.
But it didn't, judging from how Luz grimaced and whined, "Noooo, Tulip, don't say that out loud."
"Why?"
"Because now it's going to be the Jaguar and it can make explosions."
Their eyes returned to the horizon, to the trail of smoke, Tulip's not sure why. Searching, maybe, for good news. For a sign that things weren't as bad as it seemed.
Tulip spotted the little bundle of earthy brown feathers before Luz, but Luz was the first to exclaim, "Owlbert!"
Owlbert hovered and slowed until he came to perch on the balcony railing. He didn't make a sound. Didn't chirp or hoot or anything. He just looked up at Luz with his big, round eyes. Tulip has never seen an owl look scared before.
Irrational as it might be, she couldn't help the pang of guilt swelling in her chest.
Luz dashed back inside, leaving Tulip alone with Owlbert. Just in case both her and Luz completely misread the situation, Tulip tried asking, "Is it her? The Jaguar?"
Owlbert stared at her now, still not making a sound. Not that he needed to. Tulip already figured. Ask a stupid question.
When Tulip returned to the living room, Luz was on her knees, gathering up paper and pencil and other scattered miscellaneous components and tucking them inside her satchel. But she's not stuffing them in a frantic rush like before. She's filing them, carefully, placing specific glyphs in specific slots. It's something she's done hundreds of times before, and something she's ready to do hundreds of times more.
Luz rose to her feet and whirled around. With her cape flowing behind her, with her satchel strapped across her chest, with her staff gripped decisively in her hand, suddenly, she's not just Luz anymore. Suddenly, she's a hero. The light of the Boiling Isles.
"The front door is rigged to shock anyone who touches it that's not you, me, or Anne. If anything or anyone breaks through, Anne made a hole under the bed that you can hide in. Or, you can go to the balcony of the room next door. It's close enough to jump to and I already unlocked the door. If I don't come back in thirty minutes, I want you to-"
"I'm coming with you," Tulip somehow managed to say through her starstruck stupor. Nobody's more caught off guard by it than herself. The surprised look on Luz's face didn't last for very long, quickly replaced with a quirked smile of understanding.
"I hate hypocrites. Thanks for reminding me," she said. "You absolutely will."
Luz walked over to a particular corner of the room and set her staff down for a moment. "Let's hope Sasha and Marcy are okay with lending their stuff." She turned to face Tulip, rapier in one hand, crossbow in another. "Your pick."
Tulip continued to surprise herself by taking both the crossbow and the rapier from Luz's hands. "I know a thing or two about popping bad guys," she declared, and a rapier wouldn't handle all that differently from a donut-holer, right?
Luz's smile grew, and somehow Tulip's boldness grew with it. She let Luz strap the crossbow to her left wrist, give her a crash course on how to operate the peculiar firing mechanism, retrieve a quiver of crossbow bolts from within Anne's backpack to fasten it on Tulip's left hip, and fasten the rapier and its sheath to her right hip.
Luz stepped back, looking satisfied, and maybe even a little proud? Tulip stared down at herself, at the crossbow and the rapier, a small part of her quietly wishing she still had a reflection, just so she'd know what she looked like armed with an honest-to-god crossbow and rapier. She still had no idea how she'll fare with these weapons, or if she could compare to what Luz and Anne was capable of. But that won't stop her from helping them in whatever small way she could. If all she could do was make momentary distractions or take potshots from afar, then she'll be a constant thorn on the Jaguar's side. Tenacious. Persistent. Perennial.
"That's a great look on you," Luz beamed, but she didn't wait for a reply before picking her staff back up and turning on her heels. Tulip followed suit. No time to lose.
Out in the balcony again, Owlbert fluttered up to perch on top of Luz's staff at her signal. Tulip watched, a bit dumbfounded for the umpteenth time this morning, as Luz seemed to screw the little owl in place, feathers and flesh transforming into wood, until he became the once missing owl effigy that formed the head of the staff. So that's where he came from.
Luz stomped the staff against the floor. The wings of the owl effigy unfurled and spread wide. She straddled the staff, owl pointed forward, and the staff began to levitate, lifting Luz up with it, like a witch on her-
Right. A witch.
Luz offered her hand, and Tulip accepted it. She vaulted one leg over the staff, and suddenly, she's a backseat flyer to a witch.
"This won't be a kiddie ride. Hang on tight."
Tulip did as she was told. The staff jerked in place, then launched into the sky, leaving the safety of the shelter behind, charging into battle under Luz's command.
"Hang in there, Anne. We're coming!"
And your next line is, "HOLY SHIT IS THAT KIPO"
I honestly surprised myself with how fast I got this chapter done. Just under three weeks is a new record for me. Obviously, being shorter than the chapter before it for once definitely helped me. This fic is also way more structured and better planned out as we get closer to the Main Event. That helped keep me on track and keep the word count down.
Each girl has been challenging in their own way to write and Reggie is no different. Someone has expressed concern whether or not I can keep her in character without making her come across as too big of a jerk, and boy I felt that. I guess it sorta helped that we first meet her in this desperate, semi-delirious state, so she's already kinda out-of-character to begin with. But I leave it to y'all to call whether I did good or not.
Anyway, lots of big milestones with this chapter! We are now a third of the way through this fic, we finally meet Reggie, we finally get some info on what kind of world the girls are in, and all the main characters have been introduced! On to the second act!
Up next, things get bad. Until then!
btw i now post my fics on AO3 a week earlier because this site's a bad garbage dump and AO3 is better in every way