-NO WORRIES-

  -I GOT YOU-

  Nick’s digitally produced voice somehow managed to be a little slurred, making his accent sound even stupider.

  He was, for lack of a better word, blood drunk. Which was weird, given that there wasn’t any blood once whatever these things were actually died. Anyway, when he heard Cait complaining about killing someone, he was more than happy to volunteer a tentacle through the offender’s ear.

  He shuddered as he crunched through bone into the soft gray matter beneath, and frowned when it all fluttered away into paper. This cycle had happened dozens of times now, and he reflected that Director Swan was right: enhanced durability really was rare. These mooks were like wheat before him, and this farmer loved to reap.

  Too much, the rational part of him thought, but it has lost the battle a dozen kills ago. Pinpoint strikes through eyes, wide sweeps that took down two at once, it seemed like his every motion brought both death and a tiny orgasm. He felt like he must have killed every Altered in Des Moines by now, and still wanted more. But with a few more swipes, and there weren’t any left. Not any he didn’t recognize. And he couldn’t Take them, could he?

  “Goddamn B-boy!” his humanity grabbed onto Cait’s friendly voice like a lifeline. As she approached, the golden glow of her power seemed to almost physically push the bloodlust out of him. “Nobody was keeping score!”

  She extended a fist, and while, sober, he wasn’t proud, he tapped a tentacle against her knuckles. He jerked when she caught it in a tight grip.

  “Hey,” she said, her focus lasered onto him and demanding his attention. “I don’t know how that felt for you, but this wasn’t a kids gloves situation. Every one of them you took down was one of us that didn’t go down instead. We needed you. But remember, whatever else you did, you got Dawn out of here too. You’re more than a killer.”

  Holy shit, maybe Cait’s an empath like Kennedy.

  If she wasn’t, her ability to say the right thing at the right time was eerie. All Nick could muster in return was a thumbs up. Cait nodded at him, then rushed over to check on Kennedy.

  “Area is clear of blatant hostiles,” announced Bubb-Bill. “All Guardians on site remain vigilant and assist with relief efforts for ARMOR. The situation may still be in flux.”

  Nick shook himself, and swung over to the thorn barricade Dawn had constructed. He could hear calls from inside, asking what was happening.

  -I’M GONNA CRACK THE THORN BARRIER,- he sent over comms. -ARMOR HAS A HABIT OF SHOOTING FIRST WHEN THEY SEE ME, SOMEONE ELSE WANNA BE THE FACE?-

  Warhawk slammed to the ground next to him, giving him a nod. He began to tear at the thorny vines as she sliced away with the edges of her wings. Before long, he could see hands pulling at the vines from inside, and with a thumbs up to Warhawk, he whipped himself over to Cait and Kennedy.

  The draco-goth was sitting up now, with Cait kneeling beside her.

  HOW IS SHE, scrolled across his hat as Cait looked at him.

  “Bells rung hella good, but she got her thick skull from her dommy mommy, so she’ll be alright.”

  “Fuuuuck youuu,” Kennedy groaned, opening her eyes enough to glare at Cait. “Lira has like, one rule. She’s the mommy.”

  “I haven’t signed shit,” replied Cait, grinning wide. Nick could smell the relief coming off of her in waves when Kennedy felt good enough to crack jokes.

  Oh shit

  CAIT

  ISNT YOUR SISTER ARMOR?

  A spike of the sour scent of panic, then back to calm.

  “She is, but I’ve never been more happy she’s deployed to a DC Defense post down south. Christ, hadn’t even thought about that.” Nick watched Cait’s eyes scan the devastation around them, and the copious black armored corpses, all covered in the strange paper remains of their enemies. “Fuck me, this wasn’t good, you guys.”

  AN ATTACK

  “Yeah, someone with Madman level powers that I’d bet we didn’t even see today. Given that you killed Freeflow and I killed Roidrage, I can make a pretty good guess on the powers were up against. Its not fuckin’ great.”

  “Worse, even” Kennedy groaned. “I couldn’t feel any of them. Not to brag, but I’m usually a bit of a trump card in these kind of situations. If we can’t deal with it, I just yoink their powers and fight fire with fire, Risen River style. These… things aren’t who they look like. Can’t do it, when I try I just get a tiny piece of… someone else.”

  Panic and fear began to seep out of Kennedy, worse than Nick had ever felt from anyone. He could feel her breath pick up as another bout of paralyzing panic reared its head.

  “Hey, Kennedy,” Cait cooed, “Its okay, Its alright. Lets get you out of here, okay?”

  Kennedy locked onto her, keeping focus on her face. She nodded, and reached a hand out to her. Cait smiled softly, pulling her to her feet. She went to let her go, but found Kennedy kept her taloned fingers locked tight in her own.

  Nick broke out into a cold sweat, and a primal sort of terror broke into his mind before he realized what was happening. Heavy footsteps shook the ground as Qi made her way back to the group. She had fallen so far into Dragon form that there was no human skin left on her, and her face had lost its fine features, giving way to a reptilian muzzle. More, she was roughly 12 feet tall, and looked a lot more like a miniature Kaiju than a beautiful woman.

  This is her, this is who I was…. Who I am afraid of that night Cait came home smelling like her. Why?

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Kennedy. What’s wrong?” Qi asked, her voice coming out as a rumbling growl. “I can feel you aren’t right.”

  Cait glared at Qi, but Kennedy patted her on the shoulder.

  “Thanks for your concern, Qi. And the powers, this kicked ass.” She gave the dragon a smile before she sighed. “I…. I think I know who did this. Bastard is supposed to be in the fucking ground, but, well, that didn’t stop a lot of these assholes.”

  “Yeah….” Qi rumbled. “It was fucked up. I had to kill Hotglue.”

  “Ah, shit, Qi,” Cait said, reaching out her other hand for the dragon. “I’m sorry. Did you know him?”

  “Not really,” Qi answered, shaking her head, “but Guardians shouldn’t have to kill Guardians. This is a goddamn mockery.”

  “This might be messed up to say, but I’m glad it was you that ran into him, not Bullrush or Warhawk. That would have fucked them right up.”

  Qi nodded.

  “Didn’t you have to fight Freeflow Cait? Weren’t you friends?” She asked.

  “Heh. He was a good coach, but he also handed me the only one-sided ass kicking of my life, powers or not. There was some catharsis there.”

  I ACTUALLY KILLED HIM

  THIS TIME

  “Hell yeah you did,” Cait said, incorrectly interpreting that as praise seeking. She held out a hand, which he reluctantly slapped. “I’m just worried its like Kennedy said. This wasn’t them, so this might not be the last we see of him. I got the feeling we got relatively lucky this time, that they didn’t really know what they were walking into. We didn’t keep many cards to our chest in this fight.”

  “How could we?” asked Kennedy. “Even drawing on your powers, I got taken out in one hit, and, christ, we don’t even know if Dawn survived.”

  Nick had been trying not to think about the last time he’d seen the deer, shaking in the dirt, foam building at the corners of her mouth.

  SHE WASN’T DEAD

  WHEN SAMSARA GRABBED HER

  Cait nodded as though the matter was settled. “We’ve got insane healing back at AEGIS, magic and otherwise. She’s probably already back on her feet.”

  Cleanup and clearing took another hour or so, and then everyone was driven back home. Samsara was amazing, but bringing damn near every Guardian in the city here and providing point evac for the critically wounded had stretched even her limits, and after New Davenport Team Amaranthine wasn’t in her good graces anyway. They were dropped off in front of the Pantheon, and told to report to the Auditorium.

  Nick, Cait, Kennedy and Qi filed in to find some seats already filled. Lira and Gwyn whispered to each other in a corner in the back, so they headed their way.

  “Hey!” Lira excitedly greeted as she noticed their approach. “What the fuck is going on? Freeflow attacked Camp Dodge?”

  Nick pulled himself into Gwyn’s lap as Cait responded.

  “Yes and no. I’m 99% sure the real Freeflow wasn’t made of paperbacks.”

  “Those words don’t make sense in that order,” replied Lira, glaring at the big girl.

  Cait plopped down into a seat next to her and pulled her close. “You’re goddamn right they don’t. I’m hoping Swan has some answers.”

  The auditorium slowly filled as Nick enjoyed the feeling of Gwyn’s fingers against his skin. It hadn’t escaped his notice that without the alert, the night would have felt much the same for him. He didn’t love what that seemed to imply about his new species mating habits.

  Before long, Director Swan took position at the podium.

  “Thank you all for attending, and for your service tonight. Before we begin, those of you unaware should know this night was not without cost. Please, join me in a moment of silence for Mommy Long Legs, Bailando, Tesla Coil, Nike, Air Supply, Attaché, Mr. Perfect, and the many ARMOR officers who perished before AEGIS intervention.” The room went quiet, save for a few sobs from teams who’d lost memories, or from people who hadn’t known friends didn’t make it out. Director Swan let that hang for a solid minute before continuing.

  “Full services will be held for all, of course. Wilds Witch and Fingerguns are each also in critical condition.” Nick’s senses searched for Rodeo Squad, and found only Bullrush and Warhawk. The winged woman was characteristically stoic, but Bullrush was openly weeping. Thoughtless sat next to them, clearly wanting to be elsewhere.

  Damn. Down to two.

  “All of this should make you realize this was not a normal attack. We lost more Guardians in one night than we have in any calendar year for two decades.” There was a moment to let that sink in before the Director continued. “We are down to a critically low pool of 34 Guardians for the entire city, with an as yet unidentified threat capable of attacking us with impunity. This is crisis mode, people.”

  The Director swept her eyes across the room.

  “In the coming days, I will ask much of each of you, to ensure the safety of this city and its people. Now, for what we know of tonight’s attack. Many of you likely found yourself fighting enemies you’d put down before, or even friends you’d lost years ago. We’ve confirmed that each of the 127 Altereds that entered the city was one that has been confirmed deceased. While they were largely those active in the NAAC, our analysts have identified Divine Coalition Altereds among their ranks, alongside those that had no reasonable way of even making it to this continent.”

  The room erupted in murmurs at that.

  “Is the DC finally makin’ their move then?” Warhawk’s question quieted the room.

  “We don’t believe so. Even if they had an Altered capable of this level of summoning, necromancy, whatever you want to call it, they almost always use massive mundane military support. This would be extremely out of character. You are all missing one critical piece of information.”

  The Director closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she reopened them, she looked tired.

  “Winnipeg has been dark for over a week. No communication in or out, and scouts have found no-one, alive or dead. Given the power on display here today, I find it unlikely this attack and that occurrence are unrelated.”

  “Why the fuck weren’t we told!?” yelled Warhawk, apparently having taken it upon herself to vent the audience’s growing outrage.

  “Please, Sandra. Its not uncommon for communication between NAAC cities to go down, especially in the wake of a Wave. We did send scouts, but they reported back that everything was fine. With what we saw tonight along with personal discrepancies, however, we have reason to believe they were…. suborned.”

  “Suborned? They’re fucking dead, Elizabeth! I killed F5 myself 2 years ago, and I put a bullet in her head again tonight!”

  “Bullrush, please, if you would.”

  The minotaur wiped his eyes and nodded, scooping up his teammate and leaving the room. Warhawk kept yelling and thrashing, but Bullrush was not to be denied, and honestly, was probably happy for the excuse to leave.

  “In the coming weeks,” Director Swan continued as though nothing had happened, “we will be working with other NAAC cities to form an expeditionary force to investigate Winnipeg’s situation. This will take time, as from now I am considering us on a war footing with whoever is behind these attacks. We will not be sending our forces in unprepared, god knows we can’t spare more Guardians.”

  She flicked her eyes up towards Nick’s group, and he thought she was looking right at him. Her next words proved otherwise.

  “We’ve already been in communication with Technocago, and they have agreed to send some of their saner Meta-Brains as a technological stopgap to our lack of personnel. They are expecting some degree of tech exchange in return.”

  They want Gwyn, Nick thought, and wrapped a tentacle around her whole forearm, squeezing tight.

  “Until then, we will be doubling perimeter patrols. Full squads only, rearrange if you have losses. I know this will sound like anathema to some of you, but the goal will not be heroism, if you spot another incursion like tonight’s, you will call it in, and you will wait. We will bring the full force of AEGIS DSM to bear, and minimize casualties. You will be in full squads not so you can deal with the incursion yourselves, but so you have a chance to escape if another fake Freeflow attacks. Patrol assignments will be announced tomorrow morning, please take the time tonight to fill gaps in your team rosters and report them to my office. Dismissed.”

  Director Swan left, and the room erupted. The consensus was that there should have been a Q and A, but Kennedy assured them that if her mom wanted them to know something, they would. She led their group out of the auditorium, but then excused herself, running after her mother.