“Tea,” sighed Sharon as she walked into the living room and put a tray down in front of Kitty and Alicia.

“I need this,” sighed Alicia as she reached for a cup.

“Kitty, can you drink tea?” Asked Sharon. “I didn’t ask before I made it.”

“I can!” Nodded Kitty, grabbing one of the mugs and smiling. “Ulla taught me about it! She and Aria disagree about it though.” She giggled.

“Wait, Aria?” Blinked Sharon. “Lady Aria? Looks like she stepped out of a gothic novel, massive fists?”

“Yes!” Grinned Kitty. “Are you friends?”

“Not really,” replied Sharon. “We’ve met though, she works with Ulla. Or worked with Ulla before Ulla got taken over.”

“Oh,” sighed Kitty, looking down at her mug as she remembered her current situation.

“Don’t worry,” smiled Alicia. “We’ll get her back.”

“Okay,” smiled Kitty, nodding again as her smile slowly returned.

Suddenly, Alicia and Sharon’s phones started to ring. They both reached into their pockets and pulled them out, looking to see who was calling.

“Oh crap,” they said in unison as they saw the names on the screens.

“I’ll take this in the kitchen,” shouted Sharon as she ran out of the room.

“Excuse me,” said Alicia to Kitty before answering. “Hey, Ivanna.”

“Alicia. It is your teacher,” said Ivanna over the line. “If you are being held captive, say thank you.”

“I’m fine,” laughed Alicia. “I’m so sorry, I had to run out of the back door, and then I decided to lay low. I should have called you, but I was so tired.”

“It’s okay,” replied Ivanna. “Dragón and I were worried about you, but Dragón was very keen to follow your orders and to wait for you to call us.”

“Oh right,” blushed Alica as she remembered bossing Dragón around.

“I’m presuming you didn’t need our help.”

“No, I did okay!” Smiled Alicia.

“Any good moments?”

“Well, I need to thank Dragón for teaching me her dropkick, it came in really useful!”

“Alicia likes your dropkick!” Shouted Ivanna. Alicia heard Dragón cheer in the background as Ivanna started to talk again. “Were you involved in the roof collapsing?”

“I,” blinked Alicia, trying to think of an excuse. While it was obvious that Ivanna was familiar with the intricacies of superpowers, telling her an alien crashlanded seemed like it might sound slightly unbelievable. “It all happened in the chaos, one of them hit a radiator and it exploded.”

“I see,” replied Ivanna. “I will admit, Dragón and myself were distracted at the time. When we turned back the building was collapsing in on itself.”

“Yeah, it was pretty impressive from the inside!” Smiled Alicia.

“Well, I’ll let you rest,” replied Ivanna.

“Thanks!” Smiled Alicia. “See you at training.”

“See you then,” said Ivanna as she hung up.

“Are you okay?” Gasped Mara. “I saw what happened! The news said it was a gas leak, but I know that is rubbish!”

“I’m okay,” interrupted Sharon gently. “Take a deep breath, it is all okay. I’m fine.”

“Right,” replied Mara, taking a deep breath. “I just got worried.”

“I understand,” said Sharon softly. “How about we do dinner tonight?”

“I would like that a lot,” said Mara, her voice wavering slightly.

“Give me a second,” smiled Sharon as she wandered back into the living room. “Alicia,” smiled Sharon. “Could you not be here tonight?”

“I guess so!” Grinned Alicia. “Do you want to come with me, Kitty?”

“Sure!” Grinned Space Kitty. “I’ve not been to the city for years!” She said as she started to bounce on the couch. “Can we go to the railway bar?”

“Railway bar?” Asked Alicia. “I have no idea where it is.”

“Angelville,” smiled Kitty. “Ulla took me there!”

“That’s not surprising.” Chuckled Sharon.

“If we can find it, we’ll go.” Replied Alicia.

“Excellent,” grinned Sharon before moving back into the kitchen and putting the phone back up to her ear.

“We’re on then!” Said Mara.

“Provided Alicia can find where that girl wants to go,” nodded Sharon.

“It is near the Hongo strip mall.”

“How do you know that?” Asked Sharon with surprise.

“Um, well you know, you see people talking about it on social media.” Mumbled Mara. Sharon shrugged and wandered back to the door and opened it a crack.

“Alicia, Hongo strip mall,” she shouted before closing the door again. “So, you can come here, I’ll buy some wine and you can dance to a classic barroom tune.”

“I don’t know any barroom tunes,” replied Mara, obviously flustered.

“You know, I don’t either.” Chuckled Sharon. “There is the one that is in every western, but I don’t know what it is called.”

“Anyway! I don’t have a cowgirl fetish! I just liked you being butch.”

“You don’t have a cowgirl fetish yet.” Said Sharon seductively. “Give me a few hours and I can have you masturbating yourself silly to mentions of the gold rush.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Do you want to try me?” Giggled Sharon.

“I might!“Replied an obviously flustered Mara. “And I can, because we’re over the phone so I’m immune to your powers!”

“For a scientist, you are very wrong,” teased Sharon. “ThoughtCrash,” whispered Sharon, only to hear Mara let out a soft moan.

“I hear and obey, please command me, Mistress,” whispered Mara gently.

“On three, wake up, knowing you were hypnotized but not remembering the trigger, the more you try and remember the fuzzier you get, one two three!” Smirked Sharon.

“Oh gosh!” Shouted Mara from the other end of the line. “When did you, how did you.”

“I put it in during the Bee Girl programming,” explained Sharon. “In theory, it was to speed up trancing you, but you are so fun to trance that I don’t use it,” chuckled Sharon.

“God, you are a hypnosis hipster.” Teased Mara.

“Look, sweetie, analog trancing is just the best, it has a warmer feeling and digital trance just can’t recreate it.”

“I see hanging around with Alicia has really rubbed off on you!”

“Oh no,” smiled Sharon. “Alicia doesn’t talk like that, at least not to me.”

“This time next week you’ll be wearing three scarves and drinking lattes, I know it!”

“I like lattes!” Huffed Sharon. “Nothing wrong with having some taste!”

“Of course, I can’t wait to hear about the post-indie band you just love.” Laughed Mara.

“You’ll pay for this,” smirked Sharon.

“I know, I’m just asking for it.” Laughed Mara.

“Later, dear. Later.” Replied Sharon. “How about seven.”

“I’ll see you then.” Replied Mara as she and Sharon quickly ended their call.

Once the call was over, Sharon went to the fridge and started to plan out the meal in her head. “Alicia?” She shouted. “Could you go get me some wine?”

“Sure!” Shouted Alicia from the other room. “Any preference?”

“Red, decent.” Replied Sharon, pulling things out of the fridge.

“On it!” Yelled Alicia as she grabbed her stuff and headed out of the door.

After a few minutes, Kitty walked into the kitchen. “Want me to help?” She asked with a wide smile.

“Oh, if you want,” replied Sharon. “What do you know about cooking?”

“My people eat,” giggled Kitty. “Ulla taught me about human cooking as well.”

“Great!” Nodded Sharon, sliding a bag of carrots towards Kitty. “Well, I need those chopped as thin as you can manage, about three cups? So, five of those.”

“Okay!” Replied Kitty, opening the bag and pulling out five carrots, putting them in a line on the counter.

“You’ll want a chopping board and a vegetable knife.” Said, Sharon, as she bent down to look in the drawer.

“Quantum strike!” Shouted Kitty at the top of her lungs. Sharon pulled her head up to see that there were now five kitties, popping in and out of existence. Each time one appeared it would quickly slash at the carrots with the knife Sharon had been holding seconds prior.

Once all of the carrots were perfectly chopped all of the Kittys vanished leaving only the original. “I don’t need it,” smiled Kitty, giving Sharon her knife back.

“How?” Blinked Sharon. “You did that in the museum, you can clone yourself?”

“Nope,” giggled Kitty as she shook her head. “Quantum movement, I’m moving so quickly that it looks like there are several of me, but due to the speed, I leave an after-image. So you’re seeing me a few seconds after I’ve gone.”

“I see,” nodded Sharon, not fully understanding what Kitty was talking about. “Well, if you can do that, then I’ve got some more things for you to cut!” She said as she went to the fridge and pulled out a load more vegetables.

“On it!” Replied Kitty as she started to tap at her wrist-mounted computer again. Several copies of herself appeared next to her and started to flicker in and out of sight.

Sharon carried the vegetables and a chopping board over to the dining table and put them down before pointing at them. “Go wild!” She smiled as the Space Kittys nodded and quickly descended on the pile, effortlessly making them into perfect slices.

By the time Alica arrived back home, the food was already in the oven along with several cakes. Kitty and her Mother were stood over the counter icing several trays of cookies.

“You guys were quick!” Smiled Alicia as she passed the bag to her Mom.

“Kitty is a great helper!” Replied Sharon, adding the finishing touches to a cookie. Alicia looked over the cookies and quickly realized that while her Mother’s cookies looked like flowers, Kitty had decorated all of hers to look like cats.

“You have a very steady hand,” said Alicia to Kitty.

“Thank you!” She grinned, passing Alicia one of the cat cookies.

“Thanks!” Replied Alicia as she took the cookie and bit into it. Her Mom’s baking was as good as ever. “So,” said Alicia between chews. “When waiting in line, I found the place you’re talking about. I booked us a table.”

“Yay!” Cheered Kitty, hugging Alicia tight.

“Weirdly they asked if we wanted a specific waitress,” replied Alica, gently patting Kitty on the back. “Their site doesn’t tell me much about them, so I just picked one at random.”

“It is going to be fun!” Bounced Kitty.

“Though, I’ll need to borrow the car,” said Alicia as she looked towards her Mom.

“Sure, just don’t do anything to draw attention to yourself. Remember, cars are very easy to trace.”

“Don’t worry, we’re going to have a totally normal dinner.” nodded Alicia.

After a few hours of cooking and icing, Sharon’s meal was prepared and Alicia went to get ready to take Kitty out. “Hey Kitty,” said Alicia as she walked up the stairs. “Do you want to borrow some clothes?”

“I’m okay!” Replied Kitty. “My stuff is coming in a second!”

“Coming, wait it isn’t?” Shouted Alicia as she ran and ducked down under a table. A pinging noise came out of Kitty’s wrist computer as a silver box popped out of nowhere and landed by her feet.

“Why are you under there?” Blinked Kitty, bending down to look at Alicia.

“When you arrived you made quite a bang,” replied Alicia pulling herself out from under the table. “I presumed your stuff would do the same.”

“No,” giggled Kitty. “I can use my armor as a beacon to tunnel things to me!”

“Right,” said Alicia. “Wait, how did you land at the museum, how did you know that stuff would be going on there?”

“Oh,” said Kitty as she opened the box and pulled out a new t-shirt and jeans. “I locked onto Ulla’s armor, it has a very distinctive energy signature. Though it wasn’t as strong as it usually was, so I had to resort to a crash landing. I realize now why that was,” mumbled Kitty, her voice trailing off as she pulled her clothes off and started to change.

“Right,” nodded Alicia, silently kicking herself for reminding Kitty of the Ulla situation. “So, I have a decent idea of how to get there, though I might get a little lost.”

“It’s okay,” grinned Kitty as she twirled around in her new shit. This one, had “Meows it going?” Across the chest, along with a small cartoony cat. Alicia had to admit, it was funny despite its inherent cheesiness.

“Ready to go?” Smiled Alicia.

“Yes!” Cheered Kitty as she ran out of the door.

As Alicia and Kitty climbed into the car, they saw Mara coming up the drive. Alicia leaned her head out of the car window. “Hey, Mara!” She shouted and waved.

“Hi, Alicia!” Smiled Mara. “I hope this isn’t too much trouble, it is very sweet of you to do this.”

“Oh not at all!” Replied Alicia. “Hope you like the wine, I brought it and I have no taste!”

“I’m sure it will be great, have fun you two!”

“We will!” Smiled Alicia as she threw the car into reverse and started to pull out of the drive and onto the road.

Mara knocked on the door softly before walking inside. “Sharon?” She shouted into the house before moving towards the kitchen. As she walked into the kitchen she found that that was empty as well. “Sharon?” She shouted again.

Suddenly Mara felt two arms grab her from behind as a voice whispered into her ear. “You’re mine,” purred Sharon as a shudder ran down Mara’s body.

“Oh god,” moaned Mara as the heat pooled between her legs. Suddenly, Sharon let go of Mara and walked to the table, pulling out a chair. Mara looked around in confusion.

“Something on your mind?” Said Sharon with a cocky smile.

“I just presumed you would,” mumbled Mara.

“Hypnotize you?” Smirked Sharon. “Oh no, I’m not going to do that yet. I just wanted to remind you of how vulnerable you are. And that at any second I could force you down into a trance and there isn’t anything you can do about it.”

“Oh god,” moaned Mara, her knees starting to tremble as she sat down at the table. “That is so hot.”

“Like you,” smiled Sharon as she placed a plate of cookies in front of Mara. “And yes, anything I do could just be part of a hypnotic trap I’m going to lead you into.”

“You are such a tease,” moaned Mara as she squirmed in the chair.

“I know I am!” Smiled Sharon, moving to the counter and starting to plate up the food.

Alicia and Kitty drove towards Angelville, the radio pumping out some obscure seventies deep cut that made the drive feel like something from a film.

Kitty seemed mesmerized by the passing buildings, she kept her face pressed up to the glass most of the way, pointing out various buildings she recognized from her previous visit to Earth.

After a while, she sat back in the seat and smiled at Alicia. “Earth is great!”

“It is pretty neat, but I’m biased,” replied Alicia.

“Oh,” nodded Space Kitty. “Yeah, running isn’t fun.”

“I’m not running though,” blinked Alicia, trying to work out what Kitty was on about.

“Do you have powers?” Asked Kitty, interrupting Alicia’s thoughts.

“No,” sighed Alicia. “I had super strength for about twenty seconds and I’ve been unable to work out how to recreate it.”

“Maybe I can help!” Replied Kitty. “You should fight me.”

“Fight you?” Gasped Alicia, taken aback by the bluntness of Kitty’s words.

“Fight me!” Grinned Kitty. “I’m good at working out people’s talents.”

“You realize on Earth, randomly saying “Fight Me’ isn’t considered a friendly offer, right?” Asked Alicia with a chuckle.

“I realize.” Replied Kitty bluntly. “But it is the truth! Once we’ve eaten, fight me and we’ll see just what you can do!”

“That is the weirdest offer I’ve had for a while, but sure,” nodded Alicia, not sure why she was agreeing to the offer.

After a long drive, Alicia pulled into the Hongo mall’s parking lot. “Right,” she said as she undid her seatbelt. “I’ve got no idea where this place is specifically, but we are in the right area.”

“I know where it is!” Interrupted Kitty as she jumped out of the car.

“Sure, lead the way,” gestured Alicia, watching as Kitty started to wander around the strip mall. Alicia followed her, slightly confused about where they were going, Kitty continued to lead her around the mall until they ended up behind it.

“Here it is!” Said Kitty, pointing towards a building. It was at this moment that Alicia realized why she had never heard of this place, it was a tiny little building that was sandwiched between a bank and a phone repair shop.

“Magical Rail,” said Alica as she read the board outside the place. Alicia then realized that the restaurant’s front windows were covered with a light blue film, making it impossible for you to see what was going on inside without entering.

“Ready?” Asked Kitty, obviously growing excited.

“Sure,” nodded Alicia, walking up and pushing the door open. As she opened the door she was hit by a wave of noise. The inside of the cafe was amazingly brightly painted and covered with pictures and models of various trains.

“Good evening!” Smiled a woman in a bright, over the top version, of a station master’s uniform. “Do you have a reserved seat?”

“We do,” said Alicia, holding out her phone to show the woman the confirmation e-mail.

“Excellent, you’ll be at Platform Five, Paula will be your waitress.” Said the woman as she pointed towards a table.

“Oh it is one of these restaurants,” mumbled Alicia under her breath as she walked over to the table.

“This is delicious,” smiled Mara as she looked across the table towards Sharon.

“I’m glad you like it,” replied Sharon. “I do pride myself on my cooking.”

“I see why! You always seem to knock it out of the park,” grinned Mara.

“And this is where I snap my fingers to make you realize you are actually eating baby food.” Smirked Sharon. Mara looked at the food on her fork and turned it over in the air. She gently leaned forward and sniffed it before blushing.

“Really?” She mumbled.

“Maybe.” Laughed Sharon. “How will you know? Your mind obeys my word, whatever I tell you is true.”

“God you are a tease,” squirmed Mara as she looked at Sharon. “A massive, tease.”

“And you love it,” replied Sharon, cutting Mara off.

“I’m Paula!” Said a girl dressed as a train driver. “And I’ll be your waitress tonight. I was born in Quartz city which is right on the Lake Shore Line!”

“Hi Paula,” smiled Alicia. While she found this whole place amazingly nerdy, it was strangely endearing and she couldn’t help but get caught up in Kitty’s obvious excitement.

“I’ve got our menus right here!” Said the waitress as she placed them on the table. “Tonight our featured line is the Capitol line! All of our cocktails and dishes themed around the Capitol line are ten percent off!”

“Thank you,” nodded Alicia as she picked up the menu and looked at it.

“Can we have two of the Pacific Princess?” said Kitty excitedly.

“Oh not your first time with us?” Replied the waitress as she jotted the order down on her notepad.

“I came with a friend, she loves the Pacific Princess.” Nodded Kitty. “The drink and the train!”

“You should see our model,” smiled Paula. “It is perfectly to scale, even the decorations!” She continued as she pointed to a model that sat in a glass case on the far wall.

“We will,” smiled Kitty.

“Oh!” Gasped the waitress. “I’ll need to see some ID!”

“Sure,” smiled Alicia, grabbing her id out of her bag. As she did a quick wave of shock ran over her body. How was she going to cover for Kitty?

“Here you go,” smiled Kitty, handing the waitress a card and shaking Alicia from her thoughts.

“Okay,” nodded the waitress, passing the card back. Alicia quickly handed hers out and let the woman look over it. “Great,” smiled Paula, “I’ll get those to you as quick as I can!” She said before walking off.

“How do you have an ID card?” Asked Alicia, looking as Kitty slowly rose from her chair.

“Oh,” grinned Kitty, walking up to Alicia and whispering softly into her ear. “Ulla got it for me, it’s fake but we can’t tell anyone.” She said before waving at Alicia. “Come and look at the model with me.”

“Sure,” nodded Alicia, walking towards the wall with Kitty. The model was extremely impressive, someone had obviously spent quite a while working on this recreation. Alicia had never seen the original train but based on this model she could tell it was very ornate.

“Look,” smiled Kitty, pointing to a small plaque at the bottom of the case. Alicia leaned over and read it. The plaque explained how this was a perfect replica of the Pacific Princess and it was made and donated by Ulla Tanaka.

“Of course it was Ulla,” chuckled Alicia. “She likes her trains.”

“She loves them!” Grinned Kitty as she walked back to the table.

Mara was a princess. All she cared about was balls and primroses and pretty pink dresses made of fine silk and satin. But something about the captain of the guard made her feel so strange.

Her big muscles just made Princess Mara weak at the knees. She knew she had to have the wonderful strong captain for herself. However, Princess Mara knew that the captain would not leave her post, for something as small as sex, even if the Princess demanded it.

Princess Mara knew what she had to do, she dropped the sleeping draught into the Captain’s wine and watched intently as the Captain drank it down in one mighty chug. She waited, feeling the excitement welling up inside her, knowing that in moments the captain would be asleep and she could enjoy her big strong muscles.

As the captain’s eyes fluttered Princess Mara moved close and started to squeeze the captain’s muscles. “Just relax,” purred Princess Mara. “You’ve had a long day, just sleep, my beautiful protector.”

Mara felt a heat build-up between her legs as she ran her hands over Sharon’s muscles. “What is,” mumbled Sharon as her eyes fluttered.

“Don’t worry,” purred Mara as she squeezed Sharon’s bicep. “Just sleep my sweet, just sleep and I’ll take wonderful care of you,” she continued as she slowly peeled Sharon’s armor away.

Once the armor was off Mara realized just how dirty the guard was, it was obvious that spending the day in armor left you very grimy and sweaty. Mara grabbed a rag and some water and gently rubbed it over the sleeping guard’s body.

“So strong,” moaned Mara as she cleaned the guard. “So powerful,” she continued as she moved the cloth down between the guard’s legs. “All mine,” she said as she leaned down and kissed the captain on the lips.

Alicia had to admit, this place was oddly fun. Kitty’s wonder at everything was infectious and Alicia couldn’t help but get caught up in it. Kitty had obviously missed Earth during her time away. Alicia blinked as she realized how strange that thought sounded. A few months ago she was just a normal student, but now she knew that both superpowers and aliens existed and one of those aliens was now living with her and taking her to novelty restaurants.

A high pitched whistle pulled Alicia from her thoughts. Kitty let out an excited noise as she looked up at the waitress who was now stood near their table with a train whistle in her mouth.

“Two Pacific Princesses!” Smiled Paula as she put the glasses down on the table. “How did you like the model?” She asked as she pulled her notebook out.

“It is amazing,” nodded Kitty, gently sipping at the drink.

“Can I get you, ladies, some food?” Smiled the waitress. Kitty immediately set about ordering as Alicia picked up her menu again, she had been so lost in her thoughts that she had totally forgotten what she had planned to order.

Sherrif Mara had had enough of the local vagabonds making a mess of her fine town. She had located the leader of the gang in the saloon and was going to give her a piece of her mind before carting her off to the clink. A few days of bread and water would soon put her back on the straight and narrow.

“Well, if it isn’t our sheriff!” Smiled the outlaw as she raised a glass at Mara.

“I’ve not got time for your silver tongue and your lying words,” said Mara as she slapped the glass clean out of the bandit’s hand. “I know you orchestrated the stagecoach job. I know you put Molly up to the bank job as well.”

“Well Sherrif,” laughed the outlaw. “I think you have this all wrong. It isn’t my fault that Molly had those repressed criminal urges, the girl was going to snap one day. I didn’t give her the dynamite to blow the vault as I’m a darn good citizen.”

“Molly wasn’t a criminal, you talked her into it with your ways!”

“My ways? What are you suggesting Sheriff?”

“You talk people into doing stuff,” shouted Sheriff Mara. “You use your womanly ways to make the girls do things they would never dream of doing.”

“Now now Sherrif, I can’t help that I’m popular.” Smiled the bandit as she spread her legs. “I can’t help that girls find me mightly attractive, that I twist their little heartstrings until they’ll do anything to please me.”

“You’re coming with me!” Growled Sherrif Mara, reaching out to grab the lawless bandit. However, before her hands could make contact with the vagabond, the woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a gold watch on a chain, and started to swing it in front of Sherrif Mara.

“Just watch it swing,” purred the outlaw. “Back and forth, back and forth,” she purred as Mara found her eyes drawn to it. Something about it was infinitely fascinating, it caught the light in such a wonderful and beautiful way.

“I,” mumbled Mara as her eyes went wider. “You can’t do this to me.”

“Don’t you find it pretty? So shiny and so brilliant that you can’t help but stare at it, you can’t help but watch it with every part of your being, watching as it swings back and forth in front of your eyes, watching as it moves so gracefully in the air. In fact, its movement is so beautiful that it takes so much energy to look at it, so much energy that you can’t help but find yourself become sleepy.”

“But,” mumbled Mara. “I’m not falling,” she said before letting out a loud yawn.

“Sleepy little sheriff,” purred the outlaw as the watch continued to swing in the light. Mara felt her eyes growing heavy as her mind slowed to a crawl. The bandit was right, she was very sleepy, a short nap couldn’t hurt.

As Sherrif Mara slid into the dark depths of sleep she could hear her thoughts spiraling and twisting around a beautiful voice that seemed to talk directly into her mind.

The voice explained things to Mara. It explained that she wasn’t the sheriff, she was merely a bar hall floozy, a dancer who dressed up as a sheriff to amuse her clients. She would do anything for her clients and her favorite clients were outlaws, something about servicing outlaws made her womanly parts tremble with bliss. The voice said these things over and over, almost like it was playing on a loop.

When Mara emerged from the darkness she saw the bandit in front of her. Instantly her sex started to throb with warm desire. “Well hey there beautiful,” smiled Mara as she stood up and rubbed the bandit’s shoulders. “Want a dance?”

“Oh I want more than that, but a dance will do for now,” smirked the bandit.

The waitress smiled as she put the plates of food down in front of Alicia and Kitty. “So, anything else for you girls?”

“I think we’re good,” nodded Alicia as she looked over the plate. Her eyebrows rose in surprise by what was on her plate! The notion that a novelty restaurant like this would serve only microwaved junk was blown away from just how amazing the meal itself looked.

Alicia quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket and took a picture of the food, only for Kitty to look at her quizzically. “What are you doing that for?”

“Because I need something normal to post on social media,” replied Alicia, quickly tapping on her phone. “So people don’t ask what I did this summer.”

“Oh,” chuckled Kitty. “People don’t know?”

“I didn’t know until a few weeks ago.”

“Right,” nodded Kitty. “Must have been a shock.”

“It really was a shock,” smiled Alicia as she started to eat. “To know that so much was happening just out of sight.”

“But that is for the best,” replied Kitty with a grin.

“True,” nodded Alicia before starting to eat.

The vampire had flown into Mara’s room in the dead of night. Mara was terrified of her imposing figure but some part of her found the creature oddly alluring, part of her just want to throw herself into the foul creature’s arms, no matter how much her head told her not to.

“I have come for you,” said the vampire, its voice nothing more than a low hiss.

“No foul beast! Begone!” Shouted Mara.

“No, I shall not begone! I shall feed!” Cackled the Vampire.

“I will!” Mumbled Mara. “I will stake you!” She said as she flailed around wildly, trying to find something that could kill the beast.

“No child, stop your struggling,” said the vampire as she waved her hand in front of Mara’s eyes. Mara felt a strange fog fall over her brain, it was almost like the world was in soft focus.

“I, won’t,” moaned Mara as she swooned backward into the bed.

“You will do it, child. Listen to my command and obey.” Said the Vampire as she waved her hand in front of Mara’s face once more. “You are in my power.”

“I,” started Mara as her eyes went wide. “I am in your power.” She mumbled as she felt the will of the vampire take over her mind, forcing out all of her thoughts.

“Spread your legs child.” Smiled the vampire as she came closer, her hot breath brushing across Mara’s skin. Mara felt her body comply with the vampire’s words as she spread her legs wide.

The vampire went down between Mara’s legs as her heart fluttered and her body started to tremble. Suddenly Mara felt pain shoot through her body as the vampire’s fangs penetrated her hip. She felt like her whole body was on fire, waves of bliss washed over her body as her mind slowly drained from her head, it felt like the vampire’s will was flowing in her veins and taking control of her.

“You have quite the appetite!” Chuckled Alicia as she looked at the empty dishes that sat before Kitty.

“I move fast,” smiled Kitty. “Or your time is slow. I’m not sure of the difference.”

“Me neither,” replied Alicia. “But still, that was a lot of food.”

“How are you, girls?” Smiled Paula as she walked over.

“We’re pretty good, can we get the bill if you don’t mind?” Grinned Alicia.

“Sure you can!” Smiled Paula, quickly walking away again.

Kitty reached into her jeans and started to pull money out. “You have money?” Blinked Alicia.

“Yeah?” Replied Kitty, looking utterly confused by the question. “I got paid Earth money when I was here last time, so I’ve kept it.”

“I see,” nodded Alicia. “Go figure I guess,” she said as she pulled money out of her pocket.

“And here is your bill,” smiled Paula as she came over and placed a small model freight car on the table.

Alicia bent over to look at the amount, however before she could Kitty put some money onto the table. “There it is!” She smiled.

“Wow, you worked that out in your head?” Gasped Paula.

“I’m pretty quick,” smiled Kitty.

“Well, you two have a lovely night!” Nodded Paula as she picked up the money and walked off. Kitty rose from her seat and adjusted her shirt as she moved to leave. Alicia quickly stood up and glared at Kitty.

“We were going to split it, I was working out what half was.”

“What is split, we don’t have that on my planet,” laughed Kitty as she walked out onto the street.

“Oh now you don’t understand Earth culture,” giggled Alicia as she rolled her eyes.

“Anyway,” said Kitty as she looked at Alicia. “You owe me a fight.”

“You still want that?” Replied Alicia.

“I do,” nodded Kitty.

“Sure, if you want it that badly, I’ll do it,” sighed Alicia, racking her brains for where to do it. “Mirage forest should be good, no one should spot us there in the middle of the night.”

“Let’s go then,” grinned Kitty, running back to the car.

Mara nuzzled softly into Sharon’s breast, listening to the soft beat of her heart. She felt wonderful on every level imaginable, she felt safe and content, like she had finally found a home in Sharon’s arms.

“Tonight has been a trip,” said Mara softly.

“I’m glad you liked it,” smiled Sharon, gently running her fingers through Mara’s hair.

“I’m sorry I got so worried,” whispered Mara.

“Don’t be,” replied Sharon as she looked down at Mara. “It is nice to be worried about.”

“Just, people put themselves at risk and I get worried about losing them,” continued Mara.

“That makes sense,” nodded Sharon. “We don’t exactly live the most peaceful lives.”

“I just,” Started Mara as she bit her bottom lip and took a few deep breaths, obviously trying to fight back the tears. “I just don’t want to lose anyone.”

“That makes sense,” Replied Sharon as she gently massaged Mara’s scalp in an attempt to comfort her “It’s definitely frightening out there.”

“I’ve been worried about it a lot and tried to avoid it by not getting attached,” said Mara, obviously getting very worked up, her voice breaking a little as she talked. “But with you, I broke my own rules I got attached and I don’t know what I would do if,” continued Mara, her words trailing off as they got stuck in her throat.

Sharon tilted her head down and lifted Mara’s head. Her eyes gazing deep into the other woman’s. “It’s okay, shhh, it’s okay, you can get attached to me. I’m not going anywhere, I promise. I’ll always come back.” She whispered softly, gently wiping away Mara’s tears before kissing her on the cheek.

Alicia parked the car on the outskirts of the forest and looked towards Kitty. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes,” nodded Kitty.

“Why?” Sighed Alicia, getting exasperated by Kitty’s strange fixation on fighting her.

“Because I’m going to help you find your power.” Replied Kitty as she got out of the car.

“Why do you care so much?”

“Because it obviously frustrates you and you helped me while I was trying to help Ulla. So I’m going to return the favor.” Smiled Kitty as she started to walk into the forest.

After walking for several minutes they stumbled upon a clearing that was illuminated by the pale light of the moon. Kitty smirked and stretched her arms out as she surveyed the landscape. She then strutted to the other side of the clearing before turning around to face Alicia.

Alicia’s expression tightened and then soured as she slowly brought up her hands to protect her face. “Well, let’s get this over with.”

Kitty smiled as her eyes shone in the moonlight, she raised her one arm and pressed on her computer. “Star Change!” She shouted as a bright light illuminated the clearing as Kitty’s armor formed around her.

Alicia winced as the bright light stung her eyes. “You could have warned me!” She yelled.

“Well, you can punish me for it!” Laughed Kitty as she raised her arms up and shifted to the side. “Don’t hold back, I want you to give me all you’ve got!”

“This isn’t really fair, you have fancy armor!” whined Alicia. “If you wanted to beat me up, you should have just said so!”

“Fight me!” Hissed Kitty.

“What’s the point!” replied Alicia, sounding utterly defeated.

“Because you can’t give up!” cheered Kitty as she dashed forward. Before Alicia could react the catgirl had crouched down and put all her torque into a gut shattering uppercut. White pain filled Alicia’s mind as all of the breath was knocked out of her body in one loud cough.

Alicia was reeling, the whole world was spinning around her as she crumpled onto the cold grass, her eyes blurring as she stared up at the stars in the night sky.

For a few moments, Alicia laid on the ground, loudly wheezing for air. A small part of her wished she could just fall asleep, but, suddenly a strange firey tingling washed over her muscles, weeks of frustration, stress, and fear reaching a perfect crescendo.

Alicia’s eyes shot open with a vengeance as her hateful gaze fell upon Kitty. With a powerful heave, she slammed her elbow into Kitty’s shins. Kitty found herself yelping as she fell forward onto her knees and hands. She began to try and turn around to face Alicia, but, was met with a shoulder to the face that knocked her onto her back.

“How! Dare! You!” Howled Alicia as she straddled Kitty and unleashed a flurry of strikes onto Kitty’s helmet. “We took you in! And this is how you repay us?” Screamed Alicia as Kitty’s head was knocked left and right.

Kitty was stunned by Alicia’ sudden burst of aggression, while she had told her to not hold back, she hadn’t expected this. Kitty raised her hand and grabbed onto Alicia’s elbow before using her other hand to grab onto Alicia’s hip. In one flowing movement, Kitty threw Alicia off and quickly rolled a few feet away, hoping to regroup.

As Kitty rose to her feet she spotted Alicia’s shoes coming right for her head. Kitty caught Alicia just before she made contact and flipped Alicia over her head.

Alicia tucked into herself and managed to land her knees. Her breathing quickened as pain shot through her body once more. Alicia’s mind was numbed by the sheer amount of anger that flowed through her. She began to beat the ground in front of her, her fist leaving large imprints in the mud. “Tell me why you’re doing this! Is this funny to you? That I don’t have any powers?!” She shouted before just slumping back onto her knees.

Kitty didn’t say a word as she slowly walked over and took Alicia by the arms, lifting her up slowly.

Alicia’s eyes shot open as she yanked her arms from Kitty’s grasp. She quickly grabbed onto Kitty’s forearm and began to try and twist and pull the silver armored limb behind the girl’s back, just like how Ivanna had taught her.

However, Kitty didn’t budge an inch, no matter how desperately Alicia tugged. Hatred swelled through Alicia as she screamed into the night “I will take you down!” Kitty simply tugged her arm back quickly causing Alicia to tumble forward.

For a moment time slowed down as Alicia’s brain went on autopilot. Her hands moved before she even knew Kitty’s leg was coming for her. Kitty gasped as she felt her weight being pulled forward as a sharp pain hit her thigh. Alicia’s knee smashed into it as Kitty fell backward into the mud.

Kitty struggled to get up but Alicia slammed her foot down onto Kitty’s armored chest. Alicia’s flustered, tear-soaked face shining in the moonlight as she screamed at Kitty between sobs.

“Why are you doing this! Tell me!”

Kitty smirked under her visor. “So you are human,” she replied smugly.

“Of course I’m human, what the hell did you think I was!”

Kitty’s gripped Alicia’s ankle as she pushed her off, rolling away quickly as she flipped back onto her feet. “Who knows, but, I’m beginning to think you’re the key to all of this.”

“I’m the key?!” shouted Alicia as her mind raced to an immediate conclusion “Are you accusing me of being involved with the Red Right Hand?!”

“Who?” Asked Kitty as Alicia charged towards her, drawing her fist back in preparation for an attack. Kitty quickly jumped into the air, pushing her foot into Alicia’s chest and using it to quickly flip over the attacking girl.

Alicia fell backward onto her bottom as she shouted at Kitty “I’m not even working with them, how dare you suggest that!” Alicia pulled herself out of the mud and started to sprint towards Kitty’s back.

“I didn’t even say that,” Started Kitty as she tried to work out what Alicia was going on about. However, before she could finish she felt Alicia’s feet slam into her spine. Kitty was knocked forward into a tree, her helmet bouncing off the trunk as she collapsed.

Within seconds Alicia had mounted Kitty and started to punch her once again. “What is wrong with you!” She shrieked.

Suddenly a loud beep filled the air as Alicia’s eyes filled with fear. She quickly dived off of Kitty, expecting the suit to explode, shoot lasers, or duplicate as it had done at the museum.

Instead, Kitty simply stood up and began to wipe the mud off of her suit. Her wrist computer started to glow as it projected a small screen in front of Kitty. Kitty ran her eyes across the alien language before smiling to herself. “Interesting.”

Alicia felt her anger shoot out of her mouth as she screamed hoarsely “Interesting?! Really?! Is that all you have?”

“Your combat data is quite fun.”

Alicia blinked a few times. “Combat data?”

“My system records data for everyone I fight. Quantum movement requires me to predict where things are going to be before I move.” Kitty stated, taking a breath before continuing “Quantum moving into an occupied space could lead to, well, messy results. So to prevent that my system tracks data as I fight someone. It lets me work out their skills, style, powers, and even their physical makeup.”

Alicia stared at Kitty for a bit, flabbergasted by the statement. She took a few deep breaths before continuing the conversation. “So you were rude to me why?”

“Because I needed you to fight without holding back,” said Kitty, looking at Alicia with a smile as her visor flipped back. “If you hesitated for even a moment the data could be wrong.”

“So you decided to annoy me?”

“It worked, didn’t it?” said Kitty with a smirk as the rest of her suit shifted into particles and then seemingly vanished into thin air.

Alicia huffed, annoyed at the whole event, but, genuinely curious as she rested against a tree, trying to get her breath back. “And what did you learn?”

Kitty chuckled “Nothing yet, we’ll have to wait and see.”

“Sure, I look forward to it,” sighed Alicia.

“So will I,” said Kitty with a smirk and an almost conspiratorial wink.

“Right,” groaned Alicia deciding to not question Kitty’s expression. “Let’s just head home already, alright?” she said as she began to walk back to her car.

“Right behind you!” Said Kitty excitedly as she began to watch the data unravel on her computer.

Mara and Sharon came down the stairs and were hit by the smell of cooking pancakes. As they walked into the kitchen they saw that Alicia and Kitty were cooking. Kitty was warping around the room to effortlessly flip five pancakes at once.

“Hey, Mom! Mara!” Smiled Alicia. “Have a fun night?”

“We had a lovely evening, how was Magical Rail?” Replied Mara with a smile.

“Was pretty cheesy, but pretty great!” Smiled Alicia as plated up more pancakes and put them in front of Sharon and Mara.

“I’m glad you two had fun!” Smiled Sharon as she sipped coffee. “And thank you for the breakfast.”

“You deserve it,” smiled Alicia.

All four women quickly started to eat, keen to finish the pancakes before they went cold. After a long and leisurely breakfast, Alicia rose from the table.

“I’ll get started on the dishes!” She said with a grin.

“I’ll help!” Smiled Kitty, quickly moving over to the sink. As she did Mara leaned against Sharon and smiled up at her.

“What’s on your mind?” She asked softly.

“I’m realizing the beauty of Ulla’s plan.” Replied Sharon quietly, watching as Kitty and Alicia worked on the dishes.

“Yeah,” nodded Mara.

“Kitty is an excellent emergency switch. Something that most people would never consider planning for.”

“Right,” nodded Mara. “Introducing a new element into an unstable system.”

“She arrives and even the best-laid plans are forced to change.”

“And likely easy to keep hidden. Both due to the sheer unbelievableness and the fact she isn’t on the same planet as the perpetrator.”

“Right,” Smiled Sharon. “And we hardly know what she is capable of,” she added. “Though from what I’ve seen I know she is pretty powerful.”

“You are pretty powerful as well,” smiled Mara, kissing Sharon on the cheek.

“Such a flirt,” chuckled Sharon as her phone started to vibrate. “I’m sorry, excuse me, everyone,” said Sharon as she got up and grabbed her phone.

“Mesmera, you’re needed.” Said Crimson over the phone.

“Again?” Sighed Mesmera.

“We’ll meet you at the dockyard.” Said Crimson as she hung up.

“MIST more like RUDE,” mumbled Sharon as she went back into the kitchen. “Hey, MIST needs me,” she said.

“Sure,” smiled Alicia. Mara rose from her chair and ran over, hugging Sharon tight.

“Be safe,” she smiled as she kissed her on the lips.

“I Promise,” nodded Sharon.

Sharon quickly changed into her outfit and made her way across town to the dockyard. She was slightly confused why MIST wanted to meet her there but didn’t want to argue the point.

Once she arrived she saw Crimson and Aria leaning up against a van, both of them utterly failing to be inconspicuous.

“Ladies,” smiled Mesmera.

“Mesmera,” said Crimson as she stood up. “We need you to come to headquarters.”

“I thought you said I couldn’t be trusted?” Replied Mesmera with a smirk.

“You can’t be. But this is too important to do elsewhere,” said Aria.

“Yes,” sighed Crimson. “We’re hoping you can be a team player and blindfold yourself.”

“I see,” nodded Mesmera. “Well, where is Aria riding?”

“What does it matter?” Asked Aria defensively.

“I know you don’t like me. That and I don’t really fancy the idea of sitting in the back of a van, blindfolded, with a woman who has obvious anger issues.” Replied Mesmera.

Aria went to speak, however before she could get any words out, Crimson raised her hand and interrupted. “Aria can drive the van. You trust me, correct?”

“No,” replied Mesmera. “I don’t, but I don’t think you’re the type to randomly beat me.”

“Then we have a deal?” Asked Crimson.

“We have a deal,’ said Mesmera as she walked to the back of the van. Crimson followed Mesmera and opened the back of the van, revealing a few seats as well as several storage containers.

Crimson pulled out a black blindfold and passed it to Mesmera. “You couldn’t even get it in my colors?” Replied Mesmera sarcastically as she put it on and stumbled into a seat.

The van started to vibrate as the engine was turned on. Mesmera could tell that the van was moving and she could also tell that Aria was very clearly swerving now and again in an attempt to stop Mesmera keeping track of the turns she was taking.

After a decently long drive, the van came to a stop and the engine was turned off. “You can take the blindfold off,” said Crimson, gently pulling the fabric away from Mesmera’s eyes.

“I was hoping to get a longer nap,” laughed Mesmera as she hopped out of the van and followed Aria and Crimson to a meeting room that was already filled with various MIST members.

As Mesmera walked in, everyone glared at her. “Oh don’t worry, I’m not going to ruin your cute little clubhouse!” Smirked Mesmera as she flipped a chair around and began to straddle it

“Are we ready to begin?” Said Crimson as she walked to the head of the table.

“Ma’am, permission to speak Ma’am!” Shouted Miss Phillips, moving into a stiff salute as she spoke.

“Permission granted,” said Crimson.

“Mesmera is required to remove her mask, Ma’am. Section Sixty-Eight.”

“Well, that isn’t happening,” replied Mesmera. “You’re going to have to be a lot nicer if you want me out of my clothes. Take me to dinner.”

“It is the procedure,” replied Miss Phillips.

“She is correct,” replied Gaige.

“Why is that?” Asked Mesmera. “Why have such a stupid procedure?”

“The Emergency protocol,” replied Huntress, nodding towards Gaige.

“Seeing my face isn’t an emergency, I get that I’m hot, but I’m taken,” interrupted Mesmera sarcastically.

“No. It is so we know who is who. To prevent someone vanishing.” Replied Gaige.

“You all realize you might as well tell the girl,” sighed Medic. “It is quicker to explain ta’ meaning than dance around it like yer shoes are full of ants.”

“Thank you,” smiled Mesmera.

“The lass before me, called ’erself Emergency. One day she vanished into the aether. None of us had ever seen her mug. Kept her helmet on all ta’ time.” Explained Medic.

“I see,” nodded Mesmera. “But no. I’m not taking this off, this is a one time gig. One night only. The mask is part of the deal.”

“I think we’ll let it slide,” stated Crimson.

“But, Ma’am,” said Miss Phillips, only to get interrupted.

“Miss Phillips, stand down. Your complaint has been heard.” Glared Crimson.

“Yes Ma’am,” nodded Miss Phillips, growing slightly sheepish under Crimson’s intense gaze.

“So,” said Crimson as she pressed a button. “We’ve tracked down where the Red Right Hand operates from. Their current base seems to be in the Bluebird Business park complex. The place itself was originally meant to be a new business hub, however, the project ground to a halt, and half of the buildings were left unfinished.”

“It should be noted,” added Chole. “That the place quickly ran over budget due to various construction issues. At the time we suspected that money laundering was the reason, however, now we’re not as sure. This does mean that the blueprints are untrustworthy, there could be a lot of unmarked and hidden rooms.”

“Exactly,” nodded Crimson. “We’re going to hit them hard and fast. The building has about thirty stories according to the official blueprints. We are going to go in the front and work our way up to prevent us from being flanked.”

“I would like to draw attention to some intel we have learned about the armor worn by the foot soldiers.” Said, Chloe, as the slide changed. “The helmets in the armor rely totally on an AR display, this means it is very easy to disrupt. You’ll be issued with spray paint, simply spray it at the eye region to render the attack at a disadvantage.”

“It should be noted,” added Crimson. “That the shoulders and upper-thighs of the armor seem to be held together with hollow pins. This seems to be an easily targetable weak spot. Does everyone understand?”

The room quickly filled with mumbled sounds of agreement as everyone but Mesmera nodded their heads. Mesmera had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, an odd anxiety was gnawing away at her, something about this whole plan bugged her but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“We head out immediately.” Nodded Crimson. “We’ll head to the loading dock and move out.” Instantly the women around the table started to get up and walk out of the door and move towards the loading dock.

“Blindfold!” Shouted Crimson as she opened up the van again.

“Really?” Sighed Mesmera.

“Yes!” Nodded Crimson.

“Fine fine,” replied Mesmera as she jumped into the van and tied the blindfold around her head.

The vans all roared into life and started to move towards the Bluebird Business park. As the truck moved Mesmera tried to formulate a plan, she wasn’t used to being part of a strike team and this situation didn’t suit her powers at all, nothing made hypnosis harder than unrelenting chaos.

After a while, the vans came to a halt and Crimson pulled the blindfold off of Mesmera and dived out of the van. Mesmera took a deep breath and clambered out and surveyed the scene.

While Mesmera had known about Bluebird park, she very rarely came to this part of the city and thus was slightly surprised by how unfinished most of the buildings were.

“Let’s go,” shouted Crimson, drawing her sword from her scabbard and starting to walk towards the front door. Mesmera let the wave people walk on ahead for a short distance, hoping to avoid being on the front line of the battle.

Crimson pushed the door open and marched into the reception area. “MIST! This while building is under arrest!” She shouted, obviously presuming that the reception would have a receptionist somewhere inside it. However, to everyone’s surprise, the desk was unmanned and the area seemed empty.

“Search for doors,” said Lady Oak, pointing towards a few agents.

Creme was shaken from her thoughts by a knocking at her door. “Enter,” she shouted. A guard quickly ran into the room.

“Creme, there are MIST intruders on the ground floor.” Said the guard.

“MIST?” Shouted Creme, grabbing a tablet PC and opening up the camera. “Sound the alarm, full scale, we need to secure the building!’ Continued Creme as she jumped up and pressed a button on the wall.

Suddenly a loud siren started to ring throughout the building. Creme ran out of her office and towards Momo’s lab, watching as various guards and employees scrambled to their defensive position.

Creme crashed into Momo’s lab only to find that Momo’s loud music was totally drowning out the alarm. “Momo!” Screamed Creme, grabbing the girl firmly by the shoulders. “We’re under attack. I knew this would happen if we couldn’t get that machine working!”

“It’s fine,” giggled Momo, quickly muting her music. “We’ll stop them!” She added before nodding to the other room. “Besties! Battle stations! Stop MIST!”

“Yes Momo, anything for you.” Said Ulla and Hitomi in a dull monotone as they marched out of the lab and towards the sound of the alarm.

“Prepare for lockdown and prepare to evacuate the machine if needed.” Said Creme firmly before running out of the room.

“On it, boss,” giggled Momo as she walked into the other room of the lab and yanked open the glass cell. “Wakey wakey sleeping beauty. I’ve got a very special mission for you.”

“Loading dock clear!” said one of the MIST agents as they returned to Lady Oak.

“This is far too quiet,” grumbled Crimson. “Let’s move up a floor and hopefully push them up.”

“Right,” added Medic as she started to move up the stairs, her mech suit whirring softly with every movement. As the group came out onto the second floor they were surrounded by a large group of Red Right Hand goons.

“Surrender immediately!” Shouted the first one. Medic aimed her gun and fired a round into the figure’s chest. Electricity arced over their armor as they let out a yelp and crumpled to the floor.

“I’m okay thanks lass,” chuckled Medic. The other guards moved forward and started to fight with the MIST agents. The sounds of combat filled the corridor as Mesmera looked around and quickly ducked back into the stairwell, deciding she would do better if she was alone.

Creme was in her office, watching the chaos play out on the cameras, growing more and more agitated as MIST slowly broke through the wall of the guards.

Suddenly Momo burst into her office with a smirk on her face. “Help is on the way boss!”

“Momo! You need to protect the machine!” Shouted Creme. “We can’t let it fall into MIST’s hands.

“Don’t worry about it boss,” replied Momo, waving her hand dismissively. “It will be fine, they won’t get to my lab.”

“Momo! For once in your life, just listen! Go protect your lab!” Screamed Creme, slamming her fist onto the desk as her anger boiled over. “Go now! Right now! Before I get you a stick and send you to fight.”

“Whatever, if you don’t want to listen to the smartest person here that is your fault!” huffed Momo, marching out of the room and slamming the door behind her.

Creme went back to her screen, only to see some other figures lumber down the corridor and enter the fight, slashing wildly as they did.

“We’ve got brainwashed people,” shouted Crimson. “Medic, tranquilizer rounds!”

“Aye, already on it!” Shouted Medic as she fiddled with her gun, loading a series of darts into it. As she did, more armored foot soldiers burst into the area, quickly overwhelming MIST once more.

“Where do they get these people from!” Shouted Lady Oak.

“We need a better position!” Shouted Gaige. “Pull back!”

“Agreed,” shouted Crimson as she swung her sword at anyone who came within a few feet of her. Slowly the MIST agents made their way back into the stairwell.

Mesmera crept through the various offices as she looked for something she could use to her advantage. As she walked around a corner, she spotted a girl in a pink tutu storming out of an office.

“Interesting,” mumbled Mesmera, sneaking up to the office and looking through the crack in the door. Inside she could see Creme yelling into her phone.

“Massacre, get over there now! We need to stop them getting to the lab!” Shouted Creme, obviously frustrated.

Mesmera pushed the door open and walked inside. “I think I can help with that!” She grinned.

Creme jumped out of her chair and pulled a gun out of her desk. “What are you doing here!” She shouted as she hammered a button on the wall.

“Hey! Hey! Easy!” said Mesmera, forming a plan in her head. “Look, MIST has been keeping me hostage and I want out!”

“Why should I trust you?” Replied Creme, training the gun on Mesmera’s chest.

“Because if I wanted to attack you, I would have taken you by surprise, while you were on your phone.” Smirked Mesmera.

“Boss,” crackled a voice over the computer speaker. “We’re losing people quick!” Creme quickly bent down and looked at the screen, only to see the MIST agents standing victorious over a pile of subdued guards and Mongers.

“Keep pushing! We can’t let them get deeper into the building!” Shouted Creme, keeping the gun aimed at Mesmera.

“I can help get rid of them,” smiled Mesmera. “They don’t know I’ve been trying to defect, I could lead them away from here so you can escape.”

Creme stared at Mesmera for a few moments, obviously weighing up her options. Suddenly, Momo burst back into the room.

“See boss! We’ve already fixed the prob,” started Momo, only to stop dead as she saw Mesmera. “You!” She shouted.

“We’ve already done that,” smirked Mesmera. “I’m looking to defect, I’m yours to use.”

“We don’t need her boss,” growled Momo, glaring daggers into Mesmera. “We don’t need her help.”

“We do right now Momo,” replied Creme. “MIST is cutting down all of our guards.”

“No, I fixed it! I solved it!” Whined Momo.

“No, you didn’t Momo!” Replied Creme, holding out her tablet, letting Momo see the carnage that was unfolding a few floors below. “Your Mongers failed! You released them without a plan and they were useless!”

“Boss! We don’t need her!” Shouted Momo, stamping her foot. “I can do whatever she can do!”

“Momo!” Screamed Creme, her nostrils flaring. “Listen to me, right now MIST are at our door and winning! We’ll take any help we can get! If we don’t, everything we worked for is going to be wiped out!”

“I can change that!” Grinned Momo, pulling a small remote out of her lab coat.

“What is that?” Said Creme. “What are you planning Momo.”

“Something super-duper!” Giggled Momo as she pressed the button on the remote.

On the stairs the battle still raged, the MIST agents did their best to hold firm against the ever-growing tide of people. Suddenly every single one of the armored figures went stiff as their helmets started to crackle, several soft pneumatic hisses could be heard coming from each suit as the stairwell was filled with echoed yelps and groans.

“What did you do?” Asked Creme, getting anxious.

“Turned the tide,” laughed Momo.

“Tell me now!” Shouted Creme. “We need a united front!”

“You’ll see!” Chuckled Momo. “I’m going to go protect the gem!” She giggled as she skipped out of the room.

“Weird girl,” said Mesmera.

“She never listens!” Shouted Creme, dropping her gun and grabbing her tablet, trying to work out what Momo had just done.

Unbeknownst to both Creme and the MIST agents, the button had activated something within the armor. The guards’ vision was filled with a large pink spiral pattern that seemed to flash intensely in the helmet.

The image invaded the guards’ minds, their thoughts grinding to a halt as the pattern washed over their eyes and forced its way into their brains. As it did, the needles hidden in the shoulders and thighs pushed into their skin, filling their veins with a cocktail of Synaptic Sodas.

The guards felt like there was another voice in their heads, a new voice that seemed to shout over their thoughts, one that was made of a savage and primal aggression. The voice pulled at the edges of their minds causing them to unravel.

Momo smirked to herself as she lifted the small box to her lips and held the button down again. “Three break off. Activate the perimeter,” she said in a sinister whisper. “Rest of you, lead them to the roof.”

Momo’s words seemed to push right into the guards’ minds. Almost as if Momo’s voice was the voice of their thoughts. The cocktail of drugs in their systems made it impossible for them to ignore or resist Momo’s commands, at that moment all they wanted to do was obey.

Suddenly three of the guards ran off down the stairs at high speeds as the rest formed a line and started to advance, doing their best to push the MIST agents up the stairs and towards the roof.

Momo pulled her phone out of her pocket and quickly dialed a number, her smile growing wider and wider by the second. “Mercury news? You should come down to the Bluebird Business Park!” Giggled Momo. “There is a massive protest going on!” She added before hanging up the phone and skipping back to her lab.

The MIST agents fought hard as they made their way up the stairs, trying to hold back the wall of troops that continued to move towards them. Whenever they reached a landing, several more guards would burst out of the door, forcing the agents to climb higher up the building, frantically searching for a defendable position.

Eventually, they emerged onto the rooftop, only to find that the sky was full of news helicopters. “What is going on?” Shouted Crimson. “Who called the news?”

“I don’t know!” Shouted Lady Oak. “We need to finish this quickly before we draw too much attention to ourselves!”

“Understood,” shouted Gaige and Nevera in unison. Gaige went to say something else, however before she could a strange rumbling distracted her.

“What in the world?” Blinked Lady Oak as she looked over the edge of the building. Around the perimeter of the business park, several large metal posts were rising out of the ground, cracking and shattering the concrete as they did. Once they were several stories high, metal started to come out from the sides of the posts, quickly forming a wall around the area.

“They’re locking us in!” Shouted Crimson.

“There goes our attempt at keeping this covered!” Screamed Lady Oak.

The group scanned the rooftop, all of them trying to work out just what was going on and trying to come up with a plan that would solve all of their problems at once.

As they looked around, Crimson spotted something strange coming out of the ventilation system. She moved closer, trying to work out what it was. She quickly realized that a thick black sludge was slowly dripping out of the duct.

“A chemical weapon?” She said as she continued to walk forward. When she got within a few feet of the vent the strange sludge started to bubble and form into a large humanoid shape.

Before Crimson could do anything, a long tendril swiped out and hit her, sending her flying across the rooftop. The MIST agents ran over to her and looked at the horrific creature that stood before them. It was at least ten feet tall and had eight massive spiked tendrils sticking out of its back. In the center was what seemed to be a human figure that hung limply in the mass of latex, the figure had a horrific black maw that seemed to be twisted into an unnaturally large smile.

“What is that thing?” Gasped Nevera.

“I don’t know, but we need to take it down!” Shouted Lady Oak, charging forward and trying to engage the creature. As she got close the creature let out a loud, almost pained, roar and lashed out, smashing its tendrils into the concrete, missing Lady Oak by a few inches.

“Evacuation Protocol, contested air,” shouted Medic into her radio. “Need a helicopter to come in hot.” She said as she dragged Crimson back a few feet before aiming her gun and firing at the creature. The darts flew through the air and went inside the creature, however, it did not seem affected by them.

“Loft!” Shouted Nevera, running in to help. “Can you get anything on this thing?”

“Organic!” Squawked Loft from inside the armor. “Weird organic!” The creature continued to thrash wildly, knocking MIST agents left and right as it swept its tendrils across the rooftop.

The helicopters continued to swarm around the building, each one had a camera person and a journalist hanging out, all of them looking utterly shocked by what was unfolding before them.

The building shook violently as a strange sound echoed through the whole structure. “What was that?” Blinked Creme, only for an alarm to ring out from her tablet. “What?!”

“What is going on?” Asked Mesmera, moving over to Creme’s side. Part of Mesmera wanted to grab the woman and slam her head into the desk, however, she realized that she couldn’t break her cover until she knew how to free Ulla and Hitomi as well as retrieve the gem.

“Someone activated our perimeter wall,” said Creme softly. Suddenly the building shook again and Creme shook her head. “We need to get out of here before MIST demolishes the building around us.”

“That was their plan,” nodded Mesmera.

“Really?” Said Creme, her eyes filling with fear.

“About ten kilograms of shaped charges, they laid one before I escaped,” explained Mesmera, doing her best to lie with a straight face. “Why they don’t care about me escaping. All going to be rubble soon anyway.”

“I’m calling a helicopter,” said Creme, pulling out her phone and quickly dialing a number. “Fly someone in, we need to evacuate, now!” She shouted into the phone before ending the call.

Suddenly the building shook again as debris started to rain from the ceiling as some tiles came loose and crashed to the floor. “This isn’t looking good!” Shouted Mesmera.

“I need to call Momo, then we’ll head to the roof and get the copter, it is en route,” nodded Creme, dialing another number as she did. “Momo?” She shouted into the phone. “Momo, grab the gem, MIST is going to destroy the building!”

“We need to go now!” Shouted Mesmera, grabbing Creme by the sleeve and dragging her towards the stairwell as Creme shouted into the phone. “Hello? Hello? She hung up on me!”

Kitty, Alicia, and Mara sat in the living room, looking over the game board. “I’m going to build a new sheep hut over here,” said Mara as she laid a small piece onto a hex.

“Interesting,” said Kitty as she surveyed the board.

“Baarilliant!” Laughed at Alicia as she looked towards Kitty. “Time for you to show us your tactical brilliance.”

“Well this game is new to me,” smiled Kitty.

“Making excuses early?” Winked Mara. “My sheep empire will not be bested!”

“We shall see,” replied Kitty, tapping her chin. A buzzing sound quickly filled the room, causing Alicia to jump a little bit.

“Must be Mom,” she said with a smile as she pulled the phone out of her pocket. “Oh, it isn’t, but I better take this. Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” smiled Mara, watching as Kitty continued to ponder her move.

“Hey Beth,” said Alicia. “How goes Summer?”

“Have you see then mental stuff going on in your city?” Shouted Beth over the phone.

“What stuff?” Blinked Alicia.

“It is all over the news, there is some weird monster thing and it is attacking people!”

“What?!” Shouted Alicia. “I’ll check and call you back!” She said as she hung up the phone and flipped the TV on to a local channel, only to find a news bulletin in progress.

“As you can see,” said the reporter’s voice-over live footage from a helicopter. “This strange creature has been attacking what seems to be a vigilante group. We can only presume this is some terrorist group who have somehow taken over and cut off the whole area.”

Alicia watched in shock as Parasite continued to slash at the MIST members, sending them flying with each swing of its tendrils. It seemed that the creature was totally impervious to pain, it didn’t react to any of the powers that were hitting it.

Suddenly another helicopter came into shot. “It seems that the emergency services are arriving to help whatever and whoever is stuck on this roof,” said the journalist as the camera focused on the chopper as it slowly descended down towards the roof. “Wait that doesn’t seem to be a police chopper!” Started the journalist.

However, before she could say anything more, Parasite turned and let out a loud roar. Two of her tendrils shot forward growing longer and longer until they rammed straight through the helicopter, explosively ripping it in two and sending the pilot crashing down onto the rooftop.

“Oh my gosh,” said the newscaster, obviously in shock at the sight. “It seems the creature has downed a helicopter, I think our crew is going to try and get away,” she said as the press helicopter suddenly lurched to the left in an attempt to put as much distance between Parasite and itself as possible.

As the helicopter pulled back, Alicia caught sight of two figures coming out onto the roof. It was Creme and she was being followed by Mesmera. Both of them stopped dead as they saw the burning wreckage of the helicopter littering the roof.

The creature turned towards Creme and Mesmera, letting out another low growl before sending one of its tendrils towards the pair. Creme grabbed Mesmera by the arm and yanked her into the stairwell, the tendril ripping a hole in the bricks as it did.

“Mom?” Gasped Alicia.

Mara’s face went pale as heard Alicia’s comment and turned to face the TV. Her eyes widened as her stomach pitted and horror filled her body. She whispered in shock. “Sharon...”