Hey guys, it's been a while, but here's chapter 21 of Misadventures of Vee. Here we go.
"You're okay, Vee, you're in control. The Collector doesn't control you, only you have control over your life." Vee repeated the mantra to herself under her breath as she squeezed the pressure point at the end of her tail.
"Are you calling me, Vee?" her mom asked, poking her head down the stairs.
"Nope!" Vee nearly shouted. She hid her guilty tail behind her and forced a wide grin. "Just, uh, memorizing fighting combos. Y'up, gonna totally wipe the floor with Luz later, hehehe…"
Camilla watched her for a few seconds before heading back upstairs.
Immediately, Vee grabbed her tail again and squeezed even harder than before. It took longer than last time but the crescent moons in her vision eventually faded. Over the past several days, Vee has woken to celestial bodies floating around her and the deceivingly innocent chuckle of a child in the distance. It was becoming harder to make them go away. Either her body was getting used to the pressure point or The Collector's magic was gaining power. Was this temporary or would that crazy version of herself eventually rear her ugly head?
"No," Vee whispered harshly. "Think only positive thoughts. I have friends, I have a home, I have a family. Nothing is going to take those away." Without realizing it, she scratched the back of her neck where a small crescent moon glowed.
There was a knock at the door.
Grateful for the distraction, Vee slithered over and morphed into her human form, just in case it was the mailman. She yanked open the door and…
"Miss Canis!" Vee said and hugged the woman tight.
"Nice to see you too, sugar." The guidance counselor stroked her head.
The rest of the hex gang entered, drawn by the sound of the happy reunion.
"Oh no—I mean, oh boy! It's Miss Canis!" Luz said, obviously trying and failing to hide the nervousness in her voice.
"Long time no see, Luz," Miss Canis greeted.
"You're probably wondering why there are two Luz's in the same room. I promise you there is a perfectly rational explanation. You see, umm, uhhhh, Vee is my long-forgotten twin who has been living in the attic her entire life. She watched us through the air ducts for years, teaching herself how to speak and walk until she was smart enough to switch places with me in the middle of the night and lock me in the attic without mom noticing. For the entire fall semester, she has been posing as me, which is why you probably thought I was acting so strange at school. But eventually I broke free and confronted my supposedly evil twin. Our battle was beyond epic! There were snakes and traps and glitter bombs and—"
Miss Canis burst into laughter. "Wow, this is all off the top of your head, sugar? Impressive."
Luz froze mid-monologue and blushed. "You told her too?" she asked Vee.
"Actually, Miss Canis sort of knew about me before I ever told her," Vee replied, snickering at her sister's unnecessary theatrics.
Camilla poked her head in again from the top of the stairs. "What's all the racket? Oh, Luna, hello. What brings you here?"
"Your daughter invited me," Miss Canis explained, patting Vee's head again. "She told me there was somebody here who needs my help by the name of Hunter."
Everybody whipped around to face the boy who flinched at the sudden attention. "Me?" he squeaked.
There was a glint of recognition in Miss Canis's eyes when she saw who she was here for. She stepped closer to Hunter and sniffed him, much to everyone's confusion.
"Caleb? And death…?" she said. She eyed the boy. "Are you a…"
Hunter clenched. Vee could see his fear. While Hunter had admitted that he was a Grimwalker to her, he had not revealed anything to the rest of the witches. It wasn't something he wanted to be known. Vee could understand that since she hid that she was a basilisk from her friends for so long. Still, it was a little frustrating to see it from the outside. It was so obvious that his friends would accept him if he told the truth. Did Dani go through this when she kept Vee's secret?
"Nevermind, sugar, I mistook you for somebody else," Miss Canis said, seemingly changing her mind at the last second. "Let's get started."
A few minutes later, Miss Canis sipped a cup of tea Camilla had brought her, seated before the couch where the entire hex gang was gathered. The boy of the hour sat stiffer than steel, sweat dripping down his face. Time marched on in agonizing silence as neither Hunter or Miss Canis said a word.
"You don't have to hold back, Hunter!" Luz chirped, breaking the tension. "Miss Canis is very nice and understanding. She helped me through a lot of my problems. She even helped me figure out that I'm bi. You can talk to her."
Hunter remained more silent than the dead.
"So!" Luz continued. "Miss Canis, do you really know everything about me and Vee?"
"Mm-hmm. Everything," she replied.
"She's actually a magical creature herself," Vee informed. This got a surprise out of everyone.
"Really?!" Luz gasped. She eagerly asked the woman, "What kind?"
Rather than answer, Miss Canis lifted her wolf-themed pen and gave it a click. The tinny, pre-recorded wolf howl echoed through the room.
Luz's eyes widened as the wolf motif in the counselor's office suddenly made sense. "No wonder she's so sexy," she said before turning red.
Everybody stared at her for that, especially Amity whose stare held a not so tiny hint of jealousy.
"Thank you for the compliment, Luz," Miss Canis said. "But we're here for Hunter. Let's start small. Tell me about yourself, sugar. No need to hide anything, I'm from the Demon Realm too."
Hunter finally opened his mouth, "Yeah, and how exactly is a werewolf supposed to help?"
Miss Canis frowned; her sweet gentle tone vanished. "Boy, me being a werewolf means I have lived through generations of strife. I have seen more than you will ever know. I know what I'm talking about, fool."
Hunter clammed up. His attitude wasn't meant to be rude; he was just scared to talk. But that wasn't going to solve anything. He loosened his collar and looked like he was ready to run but eventually started talking. "Sorry, I… haven't really been allowed to be around other magical creatures. Well… you could say I've lived in the Emperor's Coven my entire life. Nothing but training and drills and maintaining the Emperor's law. I never really knew what friends were until I met Captain."
"D'aww," Willow cooed. "You know you don't have to keep calling me Captain, right?"
Hunter stood at attention and saluted. "Yes, Captain, sorry, Captain." He held the position for an uncomfortably long time.
"Um, at ease?" Willow said.
"Thank you, Captain." Hunter finally sat back down, though he maintained his salute.
Everybody was thoroughly weirded out. Miss Canis hummed and scribbled a few notes. "I think I'm getting the picture. Hunter, I think you need to relax and get out more, to hang out with no other purpose but to have fun. Vee actually has a wonderful group of friends that I believe will get along great with all of you. I suggest you all meet up and have a day out together. No missions, no monsters, just socialize and be kids. How does that sound, sugar?"
There was uncertainty in Hunter's gaze but he lowered his salute and nodded. "Yeah… I think I'd like that."
The Park...
Dani and the other three members of the MCH sat in the park, under a tree. It was the same tree where Dani gave Vee and, to a lesser extent, Luz, their tarot reading about destiny. Lance was playing a game on his Switch while Beth was watching Vincent working on one of his inventions, saying it was for Vee. Dani, on the other hand was looking at herself in her handheld mirror. She was applying strawberry-scented lip gloss to her lips, ready to meet up with Vee.
"So, what're we doing again?" Lance asked, not looking away from the screen of his game.
"Vee said she wanted to meet up with us here with Luz and her friends," Dani replied, closing the handheld mirror before putting it into her dress pocket, "Well, speak of the devil."
They all looked up to see Vee, along with Luz and the rest of her friends. Except for Vincent, they all put their things away and stood up to greet their acquaintances.
"Hey guys," Vee greeted as she, Luz and the others approached them.
"Hey babe," Dani greeted her basilisk girlfriend, the two girls hugging, followed by a short kiss.
Vee sniffed the air around her lips, "Strawberry lip gloss?" she raised an eyebrow.
"You like it?" Dani asked with a smirk.
"I do," Vee nodded, "You know me so well."
"I do," Dani repeated, the two sharing a giggle.
"Ahem," they heard Luz clear her throat. They looked at Vee's sister who had a smug expression, while her friends simply stared. Vee and Dani blushed and broke their embrace.
Dani cleared her throat, "So, Vee, any reason for gathering us all here?" she asked, trying to sound professional.
"Uh, yeah. We were talking and Miss Canis thought it'd be a good idea if our two groups spent time together, hanging out," Vee informed them all. She then turned to her friends, "Uh, you guys are cool with that, right?"
"Of course. I've been meaning to get to know Luz and Amity more," Dani smiled, winking at the duo.
"Same with me and Willow," Beth chimed in with a small smile, placing a hand on her hip.
"And the boys and I can try to get along," Lance spoke, he and Vincent nodding in agreement.
"Ok, awesome!" Luz beamed, "Now, that being said, I think introductions are in order," she cocked an eyebrow in amusement, "You guys go first," she insisted.
"Should we?" Dani looked at Vee.
"Might as well," Vee shrugged in response.
The MCH all looked at each other and nodded.
"I'm Vincent," Vincent introduced himself, "I'm the scientist and brains of our group."
"Yo, Lance here," Lance introduced himself, "I provide our group with transportation and connections."
"I'm Beth," Beth introduced herself, "I'm the survivalist and nature lover of the group."
"You all know who I am. Vee," Vee introduced himself, "I provide our group with information on the magical creatures we meet. I'm also the second-in-command."
"And last but not least, I'm Dani," Dani introduced himself, "I'm the leader of our group and Vee's girlfriend- and proud of it," she smiled at Vee, making her girlfriend blush, "And together, we are..."
"The Magic Creature Hunters of Gravesfield!" the five teens chanted in unison.
"But you can just call us the MCH," Dani said with a wink.
"Alright, your turn," Vee gestured to Luz and her friends.
"I'm Augustus, but you guys can just call me Gus," Gus introduced himself, "An illusionist."
"I'm Willow," Willow introduced herself, "A plant witch."
"I'm Amity," Amity introduced herself, "An abomination witch."
"Hunter," Hunter introduced himself, "Uh... just Hunter."
"And I'm Luz," Luz introduced herself, "I'm Vee's sister and it's nice to officially meet you all. Back in the Demon Realm, we're known as the Hex Squad or Hex Gang," she said proudly.
"That's not true. Nobody calls us that," Amity quickly butted in with a deadpan tone.
"Ready to do this, Hunter?" Luz asked the Grimwalker.
"Yeah!" Hunter smiled which quickly faded, "At least... I think so."
Hunter. That name made Dani's ears perk up. She remembered hearing about this guy from Vee. Apparently, he was some kind of right hand man to that asshole Emperor back in the Demon Realm. Her eyes narrowed at the blonde but then the expression quickly changed.
"Hunter," Dani repeated the boy's name, "So, you're the Golden Guard," she said, approaching the boy with a smile and friendly tone with her arms folded.
"Uh, former Golden Guard, but yes," Hunter answered.
"The former leader of the Emperor's Coven," Dani got closer.
"Yeah," Hunter smiled.
"Well," Dani now stood just inches apart from him, "It's nice to meet you," she smiled warmly.
"Uh, thanks. It's nice to meet you t- AWW!" Hunter screamed, his hands going to his crotch as he fell to the ground, Dani having thrown her knee straight into his family jewels... and she wasn't gentle about it, "Why?" Hunter wheezed.
"That's for all the times you hurt Vee when she was imprisoned back in the Demon Realm!" Dani hissed at him, "And that..." she kicked him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him even more, "is for everything else!"
The others winced, inhaling sharply through their teeth... especially the guys. While they did feel bad for him, he was bound to get some kind of comeuppance for what he did to Vee back then. Amity had to admit, Dani did what she kind of wanted to do back when Hunter threatened to harm Luz during their witch's duel.
"Word to the wise, dudes, never piss Dani off," Lance informed them.
"Especially when it comes to Vee," Beth quickly added.
"Yeah, she's protective of her," Vincent chimed in, Dani dusting her hands off as she rejoined them.
"We'll keep that in mind," the others said.
Moments later, the two groups were mingling amongst themselves. The boys were talking to each other about media and sports. Willow and Beth were discussing the different types of plants and animals from their respective worlds. As for the two couples of both groups, they were catching up on all the adventures they had before Luz returned to Earth.
"So, wait, you actually set Willow's mind on fire?" Dani asked Amity.
"It was an accident!" Amity countered.
"Yeah, we fixed everything by going into her mind and restoring her memories," Luz informed them.
"Even though you wouldn't have had to do that if you had just left the photo alone like Willow asked," Vee told her sister.
"But if I hadn't then Willow and Amity wouldn't be friends again. So, blessing in disguise," Luz replied, waving a hand.
The four girls shared a brief laugh. That's when Dani felt a vibration in her left dress pocket. Reaching into it, she pulled out her secondary phone. The first was used for personal use like contacting her friends and girlfriend while this one was used for calls for MCH business. It was suggested by Harry.
"Magical Creature Hunters of Gravesfield, Dani speaking," Dani spoke into the phone rather professionally, "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Oh, alright. Yeah, we'll be right over. Ok, see ya," she said then hung up the phone.
"Was that a client?" Vee asked knowingly.
"Yep," Dani nodded as she and Vee stood, "Guys, we've gotta go. MCH business!" she shouted to the rest of the team, and then looked at Luz and Amity, "Sorry to cut our little bonding moment short, but we've got business to attend to. We can continue this when we get back."
"Wait!" Luz called out, stopping them, "We can come with you," she said.
"I... I don't know," Dani said cautiously, "I mean, there's already five of us and we try to not get into more trouble than we do when we go on these adventures..." she said, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Aw, come on, please?" Luz begged, "Miss Canis did say it'd be good for Hunter to spend time with all of us."
"She probably meant we should hang out at the zoo or the arcade or something," Dani countered.
"Well, it's not like it wouldn't be something we aren't all used to," Amity spoke up.
"She does have a point, Dani," Vee said in agreement to the young witch.
Dani thought it over. It could get dangerous, yet all ten of them had experience with the subject, Luz and Vee especially. Plus, there were safety in numbers, and three of them were witches. And if things got really ugly, Vee could always use her powers or shapeshift to get their asses out of there.
"Hmm... alright. The more the merrier, I guess," Dani said with a small shrug.
"Alright!" Luz beamed.
"Just try not to get in the way or get yourself killed," Dani told them, "Even though that almost happens to us every time we go on one of these adventures..." she said to herself in her head.
"Bien, hermana. Vamonos!" Vee said.
Soon the local bus was dropping them all off on the other side of Gravesfield. Dani confidently led them down the street.
"So, uh… I'm noticing there's not a lot of hanging in hanging out," Hunter whispered to Gus. "Does that come later? Should I have brought rope? Am I doing it wrong?"
"Relax, Hunter," Gus replied. "Hanging is just a human term for doing whatever you want with your friends. You're doing great."
Vee held in her snicker and realized with some surprise that for the first time it wasn't to avoid the Golden Guard's attention. She actually didn't want to embarrass Hunter. It was a simple difference and yet it struck her as significant.
"Y-Yeah," she stammered. "It took me a while to figure it out too. Don't think too much, just go with the flow."
"Flow?" Hunter searched around them. "There's water involved? I didn't bring a towel."
"We're here," Dani announced. They were outside a one-story brick building labeled "Gravesfield Post Office" that appeared way too small even for a town as small as Gravesfield. "I didn't get that many details.
The guy who runs this place was in a rush or something and said it was urgent," Dani explained as she entered. The girl stopped short and went wide-eyed when she saw who was working behind the service counter. "Mom? Dad?"
Mr. and Mrs. Chang looked far different than the last time Vee had seen them. Gone were the suavely cut business suits. Instead both the woman and the man, who had shaved his long greasy beard, wore sky blue mailmen uniforms. They were working together to carry a stack of packages nearly twice as tall as them. Their arms trembled from the weight.
"Dani!" her dad cheered. "So nice of you to visit us."
"Raymond! Focus!" her mom scolded as the stack threatened to tip.
"What are you doing here? I thought today was your day off," Dani said.
Her parents at last dropped the stack into a mail cart and wiped their sweaty brows. "It was," her mom wheezed. "But so many people have been skipping work lately that we had to be called in to cover. God, I miss my old CEO job where everyone else did the hard labor while I watched and got paid more than all of them combined."
"Wow, even my parents had to work to keep Blight Industries running," Amity muttered to Luz. "Are human businesses evil?"
"Kinda," Luz admitted.
"Oh, come on, Evelyn, doesn't it feel good to get things done? To work with your hands?" Mr. Chang said, patting the woman's shoulder.
"No."
As the adults continued to bicker, Vee caught Hunter flinching out of the corner of her eye. He went pale for a moment and palmed his forehead as if he'd been hit with a migraine. She thought she heard him croak out, "E-Evel…lyn…?" But as quickly as it had started whatever this was ended and Hunter seemingly shook it off. He saw Vee watching him and only offered a weak smile. She begrudgingly decided to let it be for now.
"Actually, I didn't pop in here to see you guys," Dani said. "Your boss called me, said there was a serious supernatural matter to deal with."
"Did he?" Mrs. Chang said, a greedy glimmer in her eye. "We can help. Of course, we should probably ask for more pay since this technically counts as additional labor that doesn't fall under our job descriptions. It's practically overtime."
Dani only rolled her eyes.
"Mr. Foster is in the back. I'll give him a call," Mr. Chang said. He picked up a phone that was on the counter and pressed a big red button. He waited a few seconds then said, "Hello, Mr. Foster, the Magical Creature Hunters are h—"
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The spine-tingling scream echoed both through the phone's tiny speaker and the service window behind the counter. Everyone whipped around to face the window. Inside Vee could partially see the back half of the post office. It was filled with shelves of mail and packages and carts. "What is that thing! It's huge! How? Get away from me! Get away! NO! AAAAAAAAAAAA—"
Mr. Foster's scream cut off abruptly. At the same time the back room's lights went out. It was dead silent except for the long-disconnected tone that hummed in Mr. Chang's hand. He hung up and put a protective arm around his wife.
He whispered, "Everyone head for the exit—" A large white net shot out of the window and ensnared the adults. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the darkness.
"Mom! Dad!" Dani yelled, already climbing over the counter.
"Dani, wait!" Vee cried, going after her.
"What in the Titan was that?!" she heard Willow say but she was focused solely on Dani. She couldn't let her go in there by herself and get caught too. However, her mad dash to stop Dani was cut short when the girl stopped stone cold. Vee ran into her and nearly fell over. Her girlfriend was shivering, goosebumps prickled across her skin, and her teeth chattered. This was the purest fear Vee had ever witnessed.
"S-S-S-S-S-S," Dani whimpered.
"Dani? Are you okay?"
"S-S-S-S-S-S-S…"
Vee noticed the girl's hand was on the windowsill, palm pressed into a stretch of the white net that had taken her parents. It must've broken off the rest in the struggle. Only… now that Vee could look at it closer she realized it wasn't a net at all. Nets didn't cling to skin like that. And their frayed strands sure didn't float through the air like they weighed nothing. Vee knew what Dani was trying to say.
"S-S-S-Spider. Big spider. S-S-Spider. S-S-Spider. Big s-spider," Dani blubbered in a panicked trance.
"Vee?" Luz walked up to her sister, and then looked at Dani, "What's wrong with Dani?" she asked, noticing the girl's petrified state.
"Dani's terrified of spiders," Vee said, "This one time, a spider crawled on to her shoe and I had to carry her all the way home. We had to leave the shoe behind," she told them, holding her girlfriend close, "Seriously, the only spiders she likes are the superhero kind that sling across buildings."
"Well, we can't just leave her parents behind. We need to stop that thing," Beth spoke.
"Don't worry, my friends and I have experience with giant spiders. The rest of us can take a creepy bug out then Vee can drain the Collector's magic from it," Luz said, holding up several glyphs.
With that, Luz, her friends, and the rest of the MCH crawled through the window. Each had used a light glyph to guide their way. Hearing what her sister said made Vee wince a bit. The magic of the Collector that she already had in her was already messing with her body. What would happen if she took in even more? Vee chose to stay behind to comfort Dani.
"Spiders, spiders..." Dani babbled, repeating the word over and over. Vee tried to comfort her by removing the web from the girl's hand. However, it refused to come off.
"Uh, Dani?" Hunter suddenly spoke. Vee looked at the former Golden Guard, "I know this whole spider thing is scary for you and you're totally freaking out, but I know a way I can help," he offered, "Just do what I do when I panic: recite the bylaws of the Emperor's Coven."
Vee looked at him questionably. Was he serious? To her disbelief, Hunter actually began to recite all the bylaws... in order... by section and subsection numbers. Wow, he really didn't get out much back in the Demon Realm. Either it was Hunter's sincerity or the absurdity of his lame and rather boring suggestion, they heard a snicker come from Dani. This was followed by full on laughter.
"Oh my god," Dani chuckled, "No offense, Hunter, but you're as big a nerd as Vince," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. Vee sighed in relief.
"Wow. That is boring and kind of lame, but totally effective. Thanks, Hunter," Vee smiled at Hunter.
"Uh, you're welcome?" Hunter replied, unsure if those were more of compliments or insults.
That's when a scent hit Vee's nostrils. It was the scent of magic. She sniffed around and found it was coming from the web on Dani's hand. Vee opened her mouth, draining the magic from the web. The magic, however, had a familiar crappy taste, which could only mean one thing. It was the Collector's magic. Consuming it just now had made her head spin, but she managed to keep it together... for now at least. She heard Dani breathe deeply.
"Ok, I can do this," Dani claimed, "I'm scared shitless, but I need to save my parents, so... let's go," she said, regaining some of her usual confidence.
"That's my girl," Vee smiled, "Don't worry, Dani, I promise, Hunter and I will keep you safe," she told her girlfriend.
"Thanks," Dani smiled back, "But just to be safe..." she stood behind Vee, clinging close to her.
Vee suddenly experienced a little Deja Vu. This moment was like when they fought that devil creature and she saw Jacob Hopkins again. It was like that except now their roles were reversed with Dani being the one to cling to her like a shield. Not wasting time, the remaining teens moved forward.
The trio landed on the other side and peered into the dark.
"Luz?" Vee called. "Hold on, we're coming with you."
There was no response.
Vee called again, "Hello? Lance? Beth?"
"Captain?!" Hunter shouted.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Only inky black.
Vee felt a shiver along with Dani's nails digging into her back.
"Why aren't they answering? Where'd they go?" Dani squeaked.
"Hunter, can you magic us some light?" Vee asked.
"Huh?" The boy stared at her blankly. "Uhhh, Luz didn't tell you? I can't do that sort of thing."
A Grimwalker and witch who couldn't use magic? Vee had hundreds of questions but was interrupted by Dani mewling in distress. The girl was on the verge of another panic attack and needed light fast. Vee concentrated and morphed her human skin to that of a phosphorescent fairy's. She looked the same but she now radiated a crystalline blue that filled the room.
It was a terrible mistake.
The back room, which had only minutes ago been spotless, was draped with massive cobwebs. Vee's glow cast long shadows giving the illusion that there were hundreds more webs than there actually were.
Immediately Dani buried her face between Vee's shoulders and let loose a muffled scream. Vee reached behind her and squeezed Dani's hand. The screaming was soon replaced with erratic gasps.
"Keep moving," Dani begged, never coming up from her hiding spot.
"Are you sure?" Vee asked. "We can go ba—"
No! Keep moving!"
And Vee did, slowly but surely she inched them deeper into the webbed room. Hunter covered their flank though Vee didn't feel particularly protected.
"Hunter, how did those bylaws go again?" Dani asked between sniffles.
"The bylaws? Right! Bylaw Twelve, Subsection Three: all Coven members are required to know how to tie their shoes. Special exceptions will be made for members who do not have feet on a case by case basis."
"No feet?" Dani snickered. "Who doesn't have feet?"
"Technically, I don't," Vee sassed, glad Dani was keeping it together.
They rounded a row of shelves that glistened with webs and came to the last part of the tiny building: the back office. On the other side of a door with a small placard that read, "Foster," was a gaping hole. Wider than a car, the floor had swallowed up any desk or filing cabinets that had used to be here. Vee shifted to vampire eyes and saw there was no bottom. It was the entrance to a tunnel. All of the cobwebs led inside. Stuck in one of the webs was an abandoned light glyph.
Hunter knelt down and plucked the glyph. "Luz," he murmured.
"What are we waiting for? Don't stop," Dani said brusquely. Even when hiding in the back she led.
Vee, though, didn't hear her. What she heard was the innocent chuckling child from earlier this morning. It was coming from the tunnel, along with the stench of The Collector's magic. She started to feel lightheaded. She thought she could see the moon.
"Vee?"
Vee snapped awake to see Hunter already in the pit, his hand offered to help her and Dani down. Shaking off the moment, she took his hand and delved into the tunnel. Deeper they went, Vee's glow lighting the way. There were branches to the tunnel but thankfully at every fork they found a light glyph that they followed, hoping they indicated the right path.
"How are you holding up, Dani?" Hunter asked.
"Good, heheh," Dani mumbled, face still buried between Vee's shoulders. "No spiders yet, so I'm great, hehe. Webs aren't so bad, right?"
Except for Vee they were very very bad. From floor to ceiling there were webs all around her and each and every strand was filled with The Collector's magic. She didn't know when they started but crescent moons and stars flitted by like fireflies and that damn child's chuckle was coming from every direction now. She kept trying to focus on the task, the mission to… to… what was she doing again?
FiNd It! sMaSh It!
Vee stumbled. That wasn't a chuckle. The child's voice had taken on a different tone, he sounded… afraid?
KiLl It! DoN't LeT iT bItE mE!
"VEE!"
Vee suddenly realized she was being shaken by Dani. "Wha? What happened?"
"What do you mean what happened? You just froze and wouldn't say anything." She hugged Vee tightly, on the verge of tears. "Don't do that. Don't scare me like that!"
"Scared…" Vee mumbled as she held Dani. Was… The Collector… scared?
"Girls!" Hunter hissed and signaled for them to be quiet. They heard it, the chittering and scuttling of far too many legs. It was coming.
Dani covered her mouth and scrunched her eyes shut. Vee yanked Hunter to them, turned them all invisible, and turned off her glowing skin. The darkness enveloped them. With her vampire eyes Vee could look if she wanted but something else grabbed her attention. As the beast approached, so did the child's voice.
i DoN't WaNnA gEt BiT! fInD iT! kEeP iT aWaY fRoM mE!
It was fear, Vee was sure of it now. The Collector was as scared as Dani who was a shivering mess in her arms. She could hear his distress in her head, blaring from the spider, echoing through the webs. Suddenly spindly legs as sharp as spears stabbed into the ground in front of her. It wasn't an attack, just a simple walk. Yet Vee could tell the weight of the spider's steps could impale all three of them. Then another thing crashed into the ground: a mail package, stamped and ready to be delivered. Vee saw a pile of them on the spider's back. The spider continued through the tunnel, taking with it the child's voice, not noticing its dropped cargo.
When it was gone, Vee turned her glow back on and examined the package.
"Wait, how did that get here?" Hunter asked.
"The spider was carrying a whole bunch of these," Vee replied. She tore open the box and found a new pair of shoes.
"Is it stealing people's mail?"
"No." Vee squinted at the path the spider took. "It's looking for something."
The trio continued to follow their eight-legged foe with Vee leading the way. They no longer needed to follow the trail of glyphs since Vee could just follow the orders given to her by the Collector's annoying voice. Amity had once told her that she used to think Hunter had an annoying voice. If that were true then the Collector's voice had him beat.
"How do you know which way to go?" Hunter asked Vee.
"We're getting close," Vee said, deliberately avoiding the question.
Soon, they were inside of a giant cavern. On the other side was a giant web, one as big as a house, that hanged over an underground ravine. Dani gasped sharply, all color draining from her. She would've fainted if it weren't for Vee catching her.
"Keep it together, girl," Vee told her calmly.
"Right. Sorry," Dani said, standing back on her own feet.
They saw the spider's web was dotted with opened and emptied packages. The spider itself was unloading its latest delivery. The creature ripped open each one, growling in frustration and tossing whatever was inside each one into the ravine. It repeated the process over and over again. Whatever it was looking for, it couldn't find it.
"HeLp ThE SpIdEr, BaSiLiSk!" Vee winced, hearing the Collector's voice in her head, "FiNd It! CrUsH iT! Do'Nt LeT iT gEt Me!" she heard him say, panicked. She was tempted to do it. The more Vee heard his voice, the harder it was for her to resist.
"Look!" Hunter pointed to the web. They saw several bodies mummified in the spider's webbing, "There are the others."
This was Vee's chance. All she had to do was climb onto the web, eat the magic, and free everyone. There was just one problem though: there were a lot of people trapped on that thing. Luz and her friends, the rest of the MCH, the Changs, Mr. Foster, and all the mailmen that supposedly skipped work. If she ate all that, no doubt the Collector's magic would push her over the edge. She didn't want to risk changing into her crazy form and potentially harming the others, but she also knew there wasn't much of a choice.
"Dani, Hunter, you guys stay here. I'm going to go free the others," Vee told them.
"What?! No way, Vee!" Dani said, still scared shitless, even more so now that Vee was about to leave her alone, surrounded by webs.
Vee placed a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder. Pulling her close, Vee pressed her lips against Dani's. Dani sighed through her nose before she and Vee broke their kiss a minute later.
"I'll be right back. I promise," Vee told her, caressing her cheek and making her smile. She then looked at Hunter, "Cover Dani's eyes. I don't want her to see this," Vee ordered him.
As instructed, Hunter covered Dani's eyes with a single hand. The basilisk then walked over to the giant web. Focusing, Vee transformed her arms and legs into the legs of a spider. This would allow her to crawl onto the web without sticking. She crawled over to the first body. When she did though, she felt the Collector's demand to obey grow stronger. Rather than consuming it, Vee had an alternative. The basilisk's mouth filled with acid. She then dribbled it onto the web, melting it.
"Ugh. That's still disgusting. Why couldn't I have gotten a poison bite instead?" Vee cringed, still not liking her acid spit ability despite how useful it was in situations like this one.
With the web around their body melted, Vee removed it from their body. It was Beth. She looked up and saw Vee with spider legs in place of her limbs. She would've freaked out and screamed if weren't for Vee silently telling her to keep quiet, which she did. Beth climbed onto Vee's back and was carried over to the tunnel.
"Why didn't you just eat the magic? It'd be faster and you'd free everyone at the same time," Hunter asked in an almost demanding tone as Vee placed Beth down.
"That would draw too much attention," Vee quickly lied.
Vee returned to the web then used her acid to free the next person. This time, it was Mrs. Chang. Unfortunately, unlike Beth, Mrs. Chang did panic at the sight of Vee and screamed at the top of her lungs. The spider turned to face them, Mrs. Chang's scream having gotten its attention. Vee groaned in annoyance. With not many other options, Vee ate the magic of the remaining webbing that held Mrs. Chang. That bit of magic made her stomach churn and twist. Ok, that was a bad idea because now her eyes started to turn into crescent moons. She could feel her crazy side coming on, she could practically hear her.
"Damn it! Not now..." Vee grunted.
With great effort, Vee picked up Mrs. Chang and tossed her across the cavern, Beth managing to catch her in her arms. The spider saw her and charged with a hiss. With whatever little strength and free will she had left, Vee stored up acid into her mouth until her cheeks puffed. She then spewed out a blast of acid where the web connected to the wall. The wall melted, causing the web to flip upside down. With that, Vee, the spider, and all of the packages tumbled into the ravine.
Normally a ravine has hard unforgiving rock at the bottom but instead Vee crashed into a mountain of the most random junk: robes, new phones, throw pillows, and hundreds of empty cardboard boxes. This was all the mail that the giant spider had tossed aside. They had provided an odd but life-saving cushioning for Vee.
The basilisk was dimly aware of Dani screaming her name above her as well as the raining packages and the huge arachnid struggling to flip itself back onto its long spindly legs. None of it mattered. The only thing that mattered was…
"fInD iT! sMaSh It! DoN't LeT iT bItE mE!"
A sharp grin slashed across Vee's mad face and an unhinged guffaw bellowed from her throat as the crescent moon on the back of her neck lit up the entire cavern.
"Find 'n Smash? I love that game!" she cheered, dancing on her spider legs.
Almost immediately her nostrils flared. Unlike the dumb spider, Vee could smell what The Collector wanted her to find. And it was close. Her head snapped up towards where she'd fallen from. The great web was no longer a scary roped prison. Rather it pathetically hung from the tunnel entrance like a cargo net. Willow was carving the rest of the mummified people out with what looked like a knife-sized thorn. The witch's hands glowed with some kind of magic that was most likely preventing her from getting stuck. However, Vee's attention was locked on one last box clinging to the very bottom of the web. It reeked with something not of the Human Realm.
"sMaSh It! CrUsH iT!" The Collector ordered.
Eager for fun, Vee gathered the electricity in her body and launched herself high into the air, lightning shooting her from her feet. She clung to the rock wall, already halfway to her target, and skittered up. "Find 'n Smash! Find 'n Smash! Come to mama!"
"Vee?!" Dani gasped, horrified by Vee's half-spider form.
"What's wrong with her? What's with her eyes?" Luz asked, having already been freed and taken to the tunnel.
"It's The Collector's magic," Willow hastily explained as she hacked Mr. Chang free. "Vee's eaten too much; she can't control herself."
But Vee ignored them all. They weren't part of the game. The box was. It was almost hers and once she got it, the fun would begin. Fun, fun, FUN!
"Hands off!" Mrs. Chang roared. The woman, who Vee had only partially released before everything went wrong, was closest to the box. She leaned down from her prison and ripped the box to her chest. "You're not getting your grubby little pincers on my meal ticket."
Everyone let out a collective, "Huh?"
"Evelyn, are you trying to steal something valuable from the post office again?" Mr. Chang scolded from his web coffin.
"I didn't steal anything, Raymond, I found it. If the rightful owners want it back, they can come reclaim it," his wife shot back. Then quickly added, "And if I can't return it to them because it 'accidentally' got lost in the mail for more than the federally-mandated 30 days, well…"
"Mom!" Dani groaned.
"Give it to me!" Vee shouted, delighted to also play Keep Away. She advanced on the prize, slobbering with every step. "Smash! Break! Destroy!"
"Whatever is in there, The Collector wants it gone," Luz said. "That means we can't let Vee get it."
"Honey, quick!" Mr. Chang shouted, holding out his newly freed arms.
Mrs. Chang hesitated a moment as if considering whether she stood a chance against the rampaging crazy spider-girl and could keep her precious treasure.
"Evelyn!"
"Mmph, fine!" She chucked the box up to her husband who handed it to Willow. Willow wrapped the box in a vine and whipped the package up to the tunnel where it was caught by Dani.
"Nice moves," chuckled Vee, scurrying past everyone and heading straight for the tunnel. "My turn." She cleared her throat like she was hocking up a loogie. A rope of web shot out of her mouth and ensnared the box. With triumph Vee yanked the rope. To everyone's shock, the box was not torn out of Dani's hands. The girl was instead pulled with the box over the edge.
Screams of bloody murder echoed through the ravine. None were louder than Dani's parents who reached desperately for their daughter. If the two weren't still trapped in the web, they'd doven after her. The arms she landed in, however, were Vee's. Spider legs wrapped Dani mid-air and, after a quick swing on another length of web, Vee landed on the mail pile.
"Gotcha, tee hee," Vee snickered.
Dani's mouth flapped silently, her body shivering at the touch of the many thin legs.
"Oh, right, you don't like spiders," Vee said with a mischievous smirk. With a sickening crunch, she morphed her face into a spider's, complete with eight eyes and fangs dripping with venom. "Is this better?" she hissed. "Pucker up."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Dani punted Vee in the face, making her drop the girl. Clutching the box to her chest, Dani fled.
"Hold on, Dani, we're coming!" Luz shouted from above. Seconds later, "Dangit! We're stuck on the web again! Dani, we're not coming, keep running!"
"Dani!" Hunter cried, "you have to pinch the end of her tail!"
"She doesn't have a tail!" Dani screamed back.
"Oh right… then her neck. Squeeze the back of her neck."
Vee shook off the dizziness from the kick and smiled wide. This was the most fun game of Keep Away she'd ever played. But if roughhousing was allowed, then that meant she could play dirty too. With just a thought she turned invisible and creeped after Dani. She'd lost sight of her but not the curious scent of the box. She followed it past the big bug who still hadn't managed to flip over, the thing was practically a joke at this point. And not the fun kind. Vee saw where the smelly trail led, a small hill of microwaves and dolls. Just on the other side was what she needed to win the game. Holding in her laughs, Vee sprung around the hill, turned visible, and let out a not so playful, "BOO!"
But Dani wasn't there.
There was only the box, abandoned.
"Huh?" Vee said, right before Dani landed on her back.
"Give me back my girlfriend!"
Vee felt a sharp jab in her spine that shocked her entire body. It was the same crippling pain when she pinched her tail. And like her tail, the pain dulled quickly.
"SmAsH iT! fInD iT! bEfOrE iT gEtS mE!"
The orders were louder than ever and Vee powered through the paralyzing pinch. She reached behind her and tossed Dani off. The girl landed next to the box. Vee nabbed the box with a web and pulled at the same time as Dani grabbed the box. It was now a game of Tug of War, one of Vee's favorites. Vee loved every game. She loved to play all the time. Nothing was better than games! And nothing made games even more better than scaring your opponent. Vee unleashed a monstrous wail.
Dani flinched and went pale but she did not run. Trembling from head to toe she held strong to the box and stammered out, "B-B-Bylaw Six, Subs-s-section Eight."
Vee blinked. "Huh?"
"The n-number of p-p-pockets in the Coven uniform shall n-not exceed three."
"Actually, that's Subsection Nine," Hunter called in the distance.
Dani pressed on, reciting another random bylaw Hunter had told them about toenail length, this time, with far less stammers. Vee didn't understand what was happening. Instead of being scared, Dani seemed to grow only bolder. How was Hunter's stupid gibberish working? Vee sprouted an entire second spider head and unleashed a nightmarish roar at Dani in an attempt to finish this.
It didn't work. Dani didn't even blink this time. She gritted her teeth and looked into the basilisk's many eyes. "Vee, I don't know if you can hear me in there, but this isn't you. I know you, you aren't a monster. You're a kind and brave person who only ever wanted a home. Please, you have to fight this. You are in control."
Beautiful words.
But they fell on deaf ears.
Vee heaved with all her might, determined to win the game. And the box ripped. Something flew out, high into the air. Quick as can be, Vee nabbed whatever it was, ready to crush it to pieces and win.
But she couldn't.
In her pincers was the most glorious thing she'd ever seen. It was an orb that gave off its own light, twinkling in the dark like a star. It looked to be made of the purest crystal that refracted dozens of rainbows. Beyond those rainbows, Vee could've sworn she saw constellations in an unfamiliar night sky, a galaxy that went on forever and ever.
She was hypnotized.
"nO! dOn'T lOoK! sMaSh It! NoW!" The Collector demanded. But Vee didn't listen to him. She didn't want to. All she wanted to do was to cradle this otherworldly gem.
Crack!
A hairline fracture cut through the stars. Vee stared in fascination as the line grew along the orb, spreading and forking until… a snout broke through.
Vee's breath hitched.
The orb, no… the egg continued to crumble and break apart until Vee was holding a dragon. Thick armor-like scales of the most royal purple covered most of its body that tapered into a tail that ended in a red claw. On the underside though the scales were as white as marble. Despite its intimidating initial appearance, it was no bigger than a puppy, and like a puppy it wagged its tail at Vee. Its wings, which looked to be composed of crystal feathers, stretched and flapped a few times with glee. The dragon was absolutely happy to see Vee. Vee meanwhile was mesmerized. The little creature's eyes seemed bottomless, their depths contained shooting stars and entire solar systems. How was that possible?
"Mama?" Vee heard in her head, but it wasn't The Collector. This voice was even younger, infantile. It couldn't be… Was it the dragon? "Mama!" the dragon cheered, spreading its limbs and wings in the purest of innocent joy. Vee's heart melted.
"Oh, my Titan, you are so adorable!" she said. She hugged the dragon. The cutie cooed and wrapped its wings around Vee in its own hug. "D'aww, why would anyone want to smash y—"
The dragon bit Vee's neck.
"YEE-OUCH!"
"nO!" she heard The Collector cry. "I tOlD yOu! WhY dIdN't YoU lIsTeN tO mE?!" But with every word he grew fainter. His power and influence over Vee waned. Vee's head suddenly felt lighter and woozy and she unconsciously morphed into her basilisk form and fell on her back.
"Vee?" Dani said, crawling over to her. "Are you alright?"
The dragon let go of Vee's neck and nuzzled the basilisk's cheek lovingly, rousing her. "Yummy!"
Vee searched her body but found no wound. It was as if she had never been bitten. "Uh, yeah, I… I am,"
"What did that… dragon do to you?"
"I think it…" Vee listened for The Collector, for the crazy her that threatened her girlfriend. Nothing. "I think it ate The Collector's magic."
"Really? Are you sure?"
The giant spider landed with a thunderous crash before them. Its fangs opened and unleashed a blood curdling screech. The girls screamed at the top of their lungs.
"Yay! More yummy!" the dragon only chittered happily and chomped on the spider's nearest leg. Within seconds, the spider shrank down to the size of a normal harmless spider. The dragon dropped the insect, burped, then flew into Vee's arms and took a nap. Both teens were severely shell shocked.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Vee croaked.
Some time later, everyone was safely back in the post office. Everyone watched as the little dragon consumed the Collector's magic, causing the webs to dissolve. It was like a kid eating candy. Well, at least now they had a way to deal with the Collector's magic without Vee hurting herself. The Hexside gang was just as surprised as the MCH. Sure, they had dragons back in the Demon Realm, but none like the one they were currently looking at.
"So, where exactly did you find that egg?" Vee asked Mrs. Chang.
"I found it in the back of my mail truck. I thought some moron accidentally mailed jewelry with no return address, but now I think that smoking hole in the roof of the truck was because that thing came from space and not because of budget cuts," Mrs. Chang, and then started to weep, "Not only was that diamond covered rock really a dragon egg, but that dragon has bonded with you! There really is no money in magic!" she sobbed, crying into her hands.
Vee glanced at Dani and saw her grinning with her phone out. Clearly, she was recording this.
"Dani!" Vee snapped with a disapproving look.
"What? My mom almost never cries. I want to preserve this moment while I can," Dani replied, Vee sighing while rubbing her forehead. Amity snickered at that. She couldn't say she wouldn't do the same thing if it were her mom in this situation.
"You know, it's not a total loss, Mrs. Chang. The dragon's egg shell is covered in diamonds. You could probably sell them for big bucks," Luz offered, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder.
Mrs. Chang's head immediately perked. There was a brief pause... then dollar signs appeared in Mrs. Chang's eyes.
"Thanks for ruining the moment, Luz..." Dani said with deadpan sarcasm.
After finishing its snack, the little dragon flew over to Vee, nestling in her arms like a baby.
"By the way, Vee," Mrs. Chang, getting Vee's attention, "Just exactly how long were you going to date our daughter before telling us that you were really a basilisk?" she asked, eyeing the girl's true form, making her freeze.
Well, looks like the truth was out.
"Oh, uh..." Vee started, only to be at a loss for words, "This isn't going to be a problem, is it?" she asked cautiously.
"Oh, it's no trouble at all," Mr. Chang said, "Though I do wonder what our grandkids will look like," he said while rubbing his chin.
"Dad!" Dani snapped, an intense blush crossing her face.
Mrs. Chang sighed, "Listen, as long as you keep Dani safe, then it doesn't matter to us what you are," she told Vee, the basilisk sighing with relief.
"Well, I think this fills our near-death adventure for today," Luz spoke, "I suggest we do something simpler like Miss Canis said, like... going to the zoo or something?" she suggested. The others chimed in agreement, all ten kids walking out of the building. Vee made sure to change back into her human disguise.
"Hey Hunter, thanks for getting me through my fears. I'm sorry about kicking you the groin earlier," Dani told the blonde boy.
"It's ok. I understand you were just being protective of Vee, just like how Amity is of Luz," Hunter replied, both smiling at each other, "So... is that how humans normally become friends with each other? Do I kick you in the groin now?" he asked naively.
There was a short pause before Vee, Luz and the rest of the MCH shared a laugh.
"So, looks like the MCH has a dragon on their team now. It could be our little mascot," Dani said in a sweet tone, gushing at the sight of the baby dragon that was now asleep in Vee's arms, "We're going to have to give it a name."
"She already has one. She told me her name is Nova," Vee replied. Dani looked at her quizzically, "Oh, apparently, she and I have a psychic link now," Vee clarified.
"Lucky!" Luz said enviously, "Just hope mom will be ok with it."
"Eh, I'm sure I can convince mom to let me keep her," Vee shrugged.
"Hey, how come your spider sense didn't go off?" Lance asked.
"What?" Vee looked at her rich friend with confusion.
"You were being attacked. Your spider senses should have warned you of the incoming danger," Lance pointed out. The basilisk chuckled.
"Not that kind of spider, Lance," Vee said with an amused roll of her eyes, "Speaking of which, sorry for attacking you when I was a spider hybrid, Dani. I didn't exactly have control over myself."
"It's ok, Vee. I mean, it's not like we haven't faced stuff like that before," Dani said, placing a reassuring hand on her girlfriend's shoulder, "Besides, I think it helped me get over my fear of spiders."
Dani glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw a spider crawling towards her. She screamed and stomped her foot, crushing and killing the bug. Everyone simply stared at her.
"What? It was coming right at me," Dani defended. Everyone then burst into a shared laughter.
Eh, baby steps.
Alright, that's chapter 21, done and done. Looks like the MCH have a new team member in Vee's dragon. And the dragon sees Vee as its mother, which is cute. Plus, it can drain The Collector's magic with no negative side effects, so Vee's safe again. This chapter was co-written with I Write Big.
Speaking of The Collector, looks like in this universe, Titans aren't the only creatures that can mess with his magic. Vee's dragon seems a lot more dangerous though.
On the subject of Vee's dragon, Nova, feel free to guess what dragon she's based on. Here's a hint: it's from Yu-Gi-Oh!
If you have ideas for future chapters, say it in a review or feel free to message me.
Remember to Read, Review and Favorite/Follow.