Outside of the station, Sarah debated on whether to try jumping across Overbrook with Penny, or risk heading through on foot. They could keep a lower profile on foot, but it would also be easier to get cornered. After a few moments thought, she decided to walk. If they ran into trouble, she'd grab Penny and leap away to safety.
"No more jumping?" Penny said, following after Sarah as she strode quietly away from the station.
"Not unless there's trouble," Sarah said. "I don't fancy being shot out of the air."
"Is that really a problem?" Penny wondered.
"You wouldn't believe how many times I've been sniped at when trying to jump through some neighborhoods," Sarah replied.
She headed through the streets quietly, keeping close to the walls and staying alert. Whenever she spotted a group of Freaks ahead, she'd avoid drawing attention to her and Penny's presence and take another route. The cybernetically augmented thugs weren't especially subtle, and she could often hear them banging at cars and whooping from two streets over. Even just seeing the profile of their mohawks, cybernetic arms, or a glimpse of their brightly colored clashing clothing was enough to give the Freaks away.
A few times, she could swear that they were being watched. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a woman in a strange mask standing nearby, but at second glance, there was nothing there.
Then, as she was turning around to try a different path, a Freak shimmered into existence in front of her. "Lookie here," said the Freak. "A couple of girlies going for a stroll in Freakshow territory? And they don't look like they're with those Carnies, either."
Crap, did this Freak have some sort of cloaking device, or a teleporter, or what? The group of Freaks that they had been trying to skirt around clanked up from behind into a circle around the two of them. Sarah quickly stepped over to grab onto Penny to get out of here.
"You're not going anywhere, hero girlie," said the head Freak.
He raised his hand toward her, and a burst of electricity shot forth and surrounded her in a restraining bubble to hold her in place.
Sarah gritted her teeth, and with a force of willpower, broke through it and grabbed onto Penny. "No way," she said, and jumped out of the circle of Freaks.
The sound of gunshots and electricity echoed through the air around them, and Sarah tried to shield Penny with her body. She could probably take it, but she doubted the little girl could.
Pain tore through Sarah's right leg. She gritted her teeth. This next landing wasn't going to be fun. She came in onto the roof, but she stumbled as her wounded leg gave out from under her. Trying to keep Penny safe, she fell back onto her bottom and skidded to a halt as though sliding into home base. There were times when she was very thankful for high pain tolerance.
"You're hurt!" Penny said in alarm.
"Don't worry about me," Sarah said. "Hide, now!"
Penny scrambled to take cover behind some ductwork just as some of the Freaks jumped up onto the roof propelled by jet. Sarah swore under her breath. There were four of them that were able to get to the roof easily this way, all of them with extensive and obvious cybernetic enhancements. She wasn't sure if she could take them out, especially wounded like this, but she was damned well going to try.
One Freak charged at her, swinging the massive hammer that had replaced his left arm. Sarah sidestepped and used his momentum to send him falling off the edge of the roof. Another Freak sent a shock of electricity coursing through her, and she barely managed to avoid a wicked curved blade slicing through the air from yet another enemy.
Sarah really wished that Penny could help with her psychic powers. As it was, she was afraid she was just going to get killed here, and then they'd go after the girl once they were done with her. That thought hardened her resolve, and she kept fighting despite all pain. She'd brought Penny into this potentially deadly situation. She wasn't about to let her down now. The three Freaks remaining on the roof grinned wickedly at her, and she took a stance against them. If she was going down, she'd take them out with her.
Suddenly, from the streets below, erupted the crackle of magic and flashes of multi-colored light, accompanied by the surprised cries of Freaks and the sound of battle in a frantic cacophony.
"Crap, the damned Carnies are here," said the third Freak, this one with a vile green mohawk, stepping to the edge to look down. That was a mistake - Sarah took advantage of his distraction to land a kick on his back and sent him flying off the roof. He landed directly on top of another Freak who was fighting what looked like a jester.
"The odds just got a lot more even, punks," Sarah said. She duck the curved blade again and grabbed the next Freak's ankle. "Down you go!" She swept his leg out from under him and shoved him off the roof, too. Three down, one to go.
Ruining her streak of good luck, another burst of electricity suddenly shot her from behind. Stunned, she staggered back, stumbling unsteadily. Her foot slipped, and she followed the Freaks in tumbling toward the street below. She landed on top of one she'd previously thrown off the roof, who was still trying to untangle himself from the other Freak he'd landed on, leaving the three of them sprawled across the ground unceremoniously.
Bright lights sparkled in Sarah's vision, and she blinked slowly, trying to catch her bearings. How much of that was the Carnies' magic, and how much was her seeing stars? No, it was probably just the magic. She rolled away from the Freaks and tried to get back onto her feet. She gritted her teeth against the pain and only managed to make it to her hands and knees before a voice stopped her.
"Don't try to move yet," said a gentle feminine voice above her. Sarah looked up to see a woman in an ornate mask, who knelt down beside her. "My sisters can handle these abominations. You are wounded."
Sarah shook her head. "No. Penny. Penny's up there. I have to help her."
"That won't be necessary," said the Carnie, pointing up at a translucent woman in a dress floating near the rooftop, who attacked the last Freak on the roof with nightmarish horrors.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Sarah allowed herself to relax a bit and settled into a kneeling position. Vanessa DeVore's cohorts seemed to have the situation well in hand. "Thanks for the save."
"Of course," said the woman. She examined Sarah's leg and tended to it with healing magic. Sarah let out a heavy sigh as the wound knitted closed and the pain faded away.
Sarah distantly watched the floating illusionist in the dress, and wondered aloud, "She's not especially shy about hovering around while wearing that, is she. Does she use illusion powers to make sure nobody looks up her dress? Although I suppose the Freaks are too busy to try to sneak a peek."
"Do you normally babble randomly, or are you merely delirious from your injuries?" the Carnie said with some amusement.
"Huh?" Sarah said numbly.
While the woman worked at healing Sarah, the sounds of fighting died down as the other Carnies sent the remaining Freaks scattering into the night. Following the last Freak being tossed off the roof, the illusionist brought Penny back down off the roof and set her gently down on the street.
Penny ran up to Sarah and looked her over. "Oh, thank goodness, you're alright!"
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks to our new friends here," Sarah said, giving a smile to the one who had been healing her.
"I was so scared," Penny said quietly. "I wish I could have done something to fight them, too. I hate being helpless and hiding like that!"
"It's not your fault, Penny," Sarah said. "It was my job to protect you, and I would've screwed that up if it weren't for the cavalry showing up. You ladies have impeccable timing," she added to the Carnies gathering around them.
"The Carnival Mistress sent us," the masked healer said.
"Vanessa DeVore, you mean?" Sarah asked, raising an eyebrow.
The healer nodded. "She was watching Penelope since she sensed her arrival in Overbrook."
"Oh..." Penny said, eyes widening.
"Can you walk?" the healer asked Sarah as she finished with the healing magic.
"I'll be fine, thanks," Sarah replied, climbing to her feet and testing her leg.
"Then let us be off, before more abominations arrive on the scene," the Carnie said. "Our mistress will want to see you, and you will be safe with the Carnival."
"Of course," Sarah said, nodding in agreement.
Sarah pushed ahead, keeping steady and forcing herself to keep walking through strength of will. She wasn't really in any shape to fight more right now, but she certainly would if it came down to it. It was unlikely the Freaks would bother them with all the Carnies around them, but if they did, she didn't want to just stand by and watch while her new friends to fended them off. She could pull her own weight.
The Carnival grounds were done up with brightly colored lights, making Sarah blink as they came into view. A number of tents scattered about like a small city were decorated in wild patterns and vibrant colors. Despite being the middle of the night, a number of people were milling about the grounds, keeping watch, relaxing, and working. A strongman was adjusting a tent that had almost collapsed. A trio of jesters ate and chatted around a small firepit. A juggler practiced his moves with rings of violet light.
The Carnies led the two of them over to an ornate tent near the middle of the grounds. At the center of the tent, a woman sat cross-legged on a plush purple cushion. She wore a painted mask concealing her face, framed by sweeping black hair. She wore a skin-tight jester's motley adorned with colorful patches, with two long sticks on her back that reminded Sarah of antennae. Sarah immediately thought she recognized her as the one she'd seen glimpses of on the way here.
"I am glad you are here. I am Vanessa DeVore." She nodded to Sarah in greeting and unfolded her legs, rising to her feet. "I thank you for attempting to keep my daughter safe. I had hoped you would be sufficient to ward off the abominations of nature who call themselves the Freakshow. But I feared for the worst when I sensed Penelope's distress."
"Thank you for sending help," Sarah said. "I don't know if I could have taken out all those Freaks by myself."
Vanessa walked over to Penny, placed her hand on her face and looked at her closely. "They've implanted you. Oh, I'm so sorry, my dear Penelope. I wish I had been there to be able to prevent this from happening."
Penny looked at her in confusion. "What? But, I chose this! I begged Dad to let me get implants!"
Vanessa shook her head sadly. "My dear child, you are thirteen. Much too young to make such a decision on your own. You do not yet realize the meaning of such a thing or the potential consequences it might have."
"I don't understand..." Penny said, blinking slowly. "They're really convenient..."
"And yet nothing ever comes without a price," Vanessa said. "They cannot now be removed without causing death or permanent brain damage. Now I can only hope that you have the will to overcome them."
Penny scrunched up her face in confusion.
"Now you're just scaring her," Sarah said, stepping in.
"Fear is a suitable response to danger," Vanessa said. "But few in this city realize the dangers of technology."
"How is technology dangerous?" Sarah wondered, raising an eyebrow.
"If we are not mindful, we will all be enslaved to the rigid order that companies like Panacea seek to establish," Vanessa said. "People will be reduced to nothing more than mere cogs in a gigantic corporate machine. Producing, consuming, turning about in circles, and never questioning what brought them to such a state or how they might break away to seek their own freedom."
Sarah thought that this was nothing more than paranoid conspiracy theories. Vanessa DeVore was clearly insane, and it was no wonder that she and Wu Yin wound up having a falling out resulting in a divorce. But as they needed her help at the moment, Sarah bit her lower lip and kept quiet.
"You do not need to believe," Vanessa says. "I realize that it is a great deal to digest at once. But we can discuss this further at another time if you wish. I believe you came here and risked your lives for another purpose. Is that not so?"
Penny nodded and said, "Dad's been kidnapped."
"The Hellions took him and Penny outside of her school," Sarah explained. "I was able to rescue Penny with the help of those implants you so deride, but I have no idea where they might have taken Mr. Yin."
"I do not know what dark purpose these Hellions intend for Wu, but despite our differences, I do not wish any harm to come to him," Vanessa said.
"Can you find him?" Penny asks, eyes wide with hope, clasping her hands together nervously.
"I will need a focus," Vanessa said. "Something that belongs to him, something he has handled frequently, something that he has touched recently."
Sarah pulled Mr. Yin's mobile phone out of her belt pouch and asked, "Will this work?"
Vanessa gingerly took it from Sarah as though handling a venomous snake. Sarah could imagine that she was probably making a face behind that mask of hers at the moment, too.
"I don't care what you think of technology, unless it interferes with your psychic abilities somehow?" Sarah said with a touch of impatience. "Will it work or not?"
"It will suffice," Vanessa said. "There will be difficulty in pinpointing a specific location with a device such as this, yet I should be able to identify the general vicinity, if the ethereal currents are willing. I will require a few moments."
Vanessa moved back to her cushion, sat cross-legged and held it in both hands in front of her. Sarah shifted uneasily and glanced around the tent while she did that. This place certainly looked like a circus, but she'd seen first-hand just how deadly the Carnies could be when they put their minds to it. They were certainly not people that Sarah was eager to cross if she could help it.
"The spirits have spoken," Vanessa said after several long moments, eyes snapping open and rising to her feet again, and handed the phone back to her. "He is held deep within the caves underneath Keyes Park. He yet lives, although darkness swirls around him. His life is imperiled if he is not saved with due speed. His fate is bleak."
Sarah nodded tersely. She didn't like the idea of venturing into those caves, but there was no help for it. Now that she knew where she was going, it was time to earn her pay.
"Send your Carnies to swoop down into those caves and flush the Hellions out!" Penny said.
"No," Vanessa said. "I am confident in your champion's ability to deal with whatever may arise."
"You're just going to let her go down there all by herself?" Penny said. "I- I'll go and help her, then!"
Sarah shook her head firmly. "You stay here with your mother where it's safe, or I can take you back to your apartment if you want. I'll be fine."
"If I did not believe that she were capable, I would go myself," Vanessa said to Penny. "As it is, I think my people are better served in ensuring that the Freakshow do not cause overmuch trouble at the moment. This day tends to inspire them toward deadly pranks."
"Huh?" Penny said in confusion. "Oh, man, is it April Fool's Day already? I've been out of it for too long. Wow, I didn't realize that so much time had passed since Dad picked me up from school on Friday. Oh... we missed Easter dinner, didn't we..."
"I'm sure the Hellions have some big prank planned themselves," Sarah said. "And I mean to stop them. I'll leave the Freaks to you, Vanessa."
"Go," Vanessa said, nodding. "Penelope will be safe enough here for now."
Penny looked disappointed, and let out a sigh, but also nodded. "Alright, alright..."
Sarah gave them a half-wave, stepped out of the tent, and leapt off into the night. She really hoped that the Freaks didn't decide to try to snipe her out of the air on the way out, but at least she wasn't trying to escort someone safely through dangerous territory this time. On her own, she could at least get away with a lot simply for being quick.
"Will she really be alright by herself, Mom?" Penny asked nervously. "Or did you just tell her that to make her feel better? I hope she's not going in there all alone just to get killed!"
"Hush, child," Vanessa said, putting a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "I would not have sent her if I did not think she could do it. Now come. Sit with me for a while, dear child. It has been far too long since our paths have been intertwined."
Penny sat down awkwardly on another cushion Vanessa indicated with a gesture, smiling a little. Mom was a bit odd, but she'd really missed her, quirkiness and all.
"And I believe that it is imperative that you begin training immediately," Vanessa said. "Especially now that I know you have been implanted. You need to learn to be able to resist whatever forces might attempt to pull at you in one direction or another."
"Oh!" Penny said brightly. "You're going to teach me how to use my powers? I don't know how good I'll be with them, but I'll certainly try!"
"I believe that you shall do better than you give yourself credit for," Vanessa said. Penny couldn't see her face, but her voicewas smiling.
"Can I see your face again, Mom?" Penny said quietly. "The mask is pretty and all, but looking at it feels weird."
"I am afraid not," Vanessa said apologetically.
"Why not?" Penny asked, disappointed.
"It is not merely a simple mask," Vanessa said. "It is a powerful artifact which enhances my psychic abilities."
"Oh!" Penny said. "Well, alright, I suppose that's okay then."
"Let us focus our energies and meditate," Vanessa said. "I will show you how to center yourself."
"Meditate? Center myself?" Penny repeated dubiously, making a face. "I want to be a hero like Sarah, and use my powers to help people!"
"Ah, hero worship," Vanessa said, chuckling lightly. "I understand. And you could be a mighty hero one day, if that is the path that you truly desire to follow. However, before you can help anyone else, you must learn how to be fully in control of yourself and your own abilities."
Penny let out a sigh. "Okay, fine. Let's... meditate, then." This sounded really boring, but if Mom said it was necessary, then she supposed it was probably necessary.
"Excellent," Vanessa said. "Let us begin."