Act 3

Camilla

Camilla stood with her partners, watching the video feed on Monica's screen. A crowd of protestors outside of Labrys's headquarters, and more showing up by the minute.

"Why give them the attention?" Radha asked. "They're not gonna accomplish anything by standing around. Let's just wait for them to get bored."

"They're making a threat," Camilla replied. "They want us to fear getting mobbed if we keep standing up for ourselves, keep fighting for actual feminism rather than the watered-down TRA kind. We need to show them, show this city, that that's not going to fly."

Radha fiddled with her sleeve, her eyes darting back and forth. "I just... isn't it a bad look? Trying to suppress this sort of thing, rather than letting them burn themselves out?"

Camilla stepped over to Radha, putting a hand on her shoulder and locking eyes with her. "A bad look is not fighting hard enough. Those people down there, they'd love for us to be scared of the consequences. But as long as we keep standing up for what's right, the truth will win out."

Radha nodded. "I... okay. I'll get my armor on."

As Radha left the room, Monica spoke up. "Are we gonna need to involve the militia?"

"I hope not," Camilla said. "I'll have Liz get some people ready so we can call her in if things get bad enough, but I'd rather make it just the three of us."

Liz and the rest of the mundane militia were mostly for show, really. Regular guns no longer did much against anyone who mattered, and spreading tech cape weapons too far was just asking to get stabbed in the back. Best to keep people's attention where it belonged.

Once Camilla and Radha had their full costumes on, the two of them strode out of Labrys's headquarters and down to the sidewalk. One of Monica's drones floated above.

The street was packed, and many of the protestors held signs. Camilla spared a moment to glance over the words - “Trans Rights Are Human Rights”, “No TERFs On Our Turf”, a bunch of those obnoxious pink and blue flags… ugh. A few of the signs proclaimed their holders as allies, and the people who held them didn’t look trans. Why were they wasting their time with those whiny brats?

“You are harassing officials of the City of Cincinnati!” Camilla announced. “Disperse, now!”

Jeers rang out from the crowd, and the holder of the “No TERFs” sign stepped forward. Despite the colorful dress, Camilla could tell from the jaw and shoulders that this was no real woman.

“You’ve been harassing us for months,” the man said. “You put a whole lot of us in danger, and you’re gonna complain about a peaceful reminder that we’re pissed off?”

Camilla pointed her right index finger at the sign. “I said, disperse.”

A line of flame burst from her finger to the sign, igniting it. The man yelped and dropped it, jumping back towards the crowd. Others began to shrink back, fear in their eyes.

“Is that how it’s gonna be?” a woman with a buzzcut shouted. “You’ll assault us unprovoked, ‘cause you’ve got powers and think you can get away with it?”

“This is provocation,” Camilla declared. She held out her hand, and a larger flame appeared in it. “This is your last warning.”

Someone stepped out of the crowd, wearing a blue and black wingsuit Camilla knew well.

“Now you’re going for police brutality?” Cygnus asked. “Artemis, you too?”

Radha stepped forward, her movements tense. “I thought you were done badgering me. You don’t get to tell us how to do our jobs.”

“I’m part of this city, aren’t I?” Cygnus replied. “I know democracy is so last year, but that used to mean having a say in how things were run. And you can’t try say it’s not my business when you put my deadname on your fucking list.”

“Cygnus,” Camilla said. “When I said disperse, that included you. Get the fuck off our street.”

Radha raised her wrist cannon, and Monica’s drone turned towards Cygnus.

“Ugh. You’re really doing this, huh?” Cygnus sighed, glancing back at the crowd. “Two minutes, I can have everyone out in two minutes. We've both made our points.”

“One minute,” Camilla snapped. “59... 58... 57...”

Murmurs passed through the crowd - people realizing they'd rather not get set on fire. They started backing off, making a slow retreat.

Monica’s voice rang out from her drone’s microphone. “We're not fucking around here! GO!”

FZZT! A red laser passed over the heads of the crowd, from Monica’s drone to a wall across the street. Shouts rang out, and people started to run. Much better.

Some fleeing protestors tripped over each other, others helped them up. Cygnus was the slowest to leave, backing up while continuing to face Camilla. When the others were out of sight, Cygnus turned to follow them.

Camilla and Radha headed back indoors. They pulled off their headgear, and headed for the lab where Monica piloted her drones.

“Who the hell does she think she is?” Radha snapped as they sat down.

“We got them out of our hair for now, at least,” Camilla said. “But if they come back, we’ll have to use a heavier hand.”

Monica scowled. “Either way, we’ll have Rudianos on our asses again soon.”

“Could they be getting funding from Hamilton?” Radha asked. “Pay people to show up as ‘allies’, try to help get us in trouble...”

“I think most of them were just bullied into it,” Camilla replied. “They set up these echo chambers, tell people they're obligated to. Sad stuff.”

“It’s obnoxious, is what it is,” Monica growled. “They’re a fucking plague, both kinds of them."

"I wish we could start doing more," Camilla said. “Maybe we’ll hear from Lelti again soon.”

“Can’t you ask her for an update?” Radha suggested.

Camilla shook her head. So far, she'd only explained the details to Monica. "Only when she's already reached out."

“So,” Monica spoke up. “Not that I don’t love you two, but I was in the middle of building stuff when those assholes showed up…”

“Ah, of course.” Camilla got to her feet. She eyed the mechanical glove on a workbench - it looked almost complete.

Camilla and Radha left the lab and returned to their own rooms. As Camilla shut her door, a familiar voice echoed into her head.

I see I’ve kept you waiting.

Camilla closed her eyes and allowed the image of Lelti to enter her mind. A beautiful woman who looked like a living metal statue, a stern expression on her face. She wore a golden dress that looked fit for a queen, and long hair hung in silver curls behind her.

Perfect timing, Camilla thought. No slight intended, of course.

Of course, Lelti replied. In any case, I have news from my companions. We’ve made progress on the seal.

Camilla grinned. Excellent. In that case…

---

Isaac

Fenrir (she/they): So I'm on my way back, but, uh.

Fenrir (she/they): Things got messy, and. Something went wrong with my powers.

Brian: tameka said something about that

Brian: meet you outside HQ?

Fenrir (she/they): Okay.

I closed the Alchemists' group chat, put my phone away, and started the car back up. No, I reminded myself, not my phone. The phone, the car, my current body...

I searched the woman's impulses for her name. Joan. Her name was Joan. And I...

It wasn't my fault, was it? I hadn't known that would happen, and I'd tried stick to feeding on people who deserved it, and-

Part of me wanted to keep searching the impressions I'd gotten from Joan, to look for a sign that maybe she'd deserved this somehow, but I fought off the urge. Not my business. No matter what, she was a civilian.

I needed... I needed to steady myself enough to drive safely. I breathed, waiting for my heart to stop racing, my hands to stop shaking, then got back on the road.

When I arrived, Brian was waiting. He sized me up as I stepped out of the car.

“I’m, uh, Fenrir,” I said. “New body.”

Brian looked unconvinced. “You know who I am, right?”

"You’re Brian." Let's see. Memories of Brian, that an imposter wouldn't know... "Two days after I showed up, you played that fighting game a bunch with Cygnus. He was the elf knight and you were the space dog."

Brian blinked. “You think he’s a dog?”

“Whatever he is,” I said. “He’s got that laser gun, and dashes into people, and can block arrows…”

Brian laughed. “That’s a terrible description, but good enough. We can talk more inside.”

I followed Brian into the building. Tameka and Sirona were sitting at a table, Tameka at her laptop like usual. Cygnus was absent - according to Brian, he was arguing with Rudianos. Tameka and Sirona both turned to look at me.

"Fenrir?" Tameka asked. When Brian and I nodded, she continued. "What the hell happened?"

I glanced away. “I didn’t pick my fights well. Got swarmed by too many of them at once, had to run away. But… looks like if I stay in wolf form too long, I can’t keep control of it.”

“So you attacked a mall,” Sirona commented.

I winced. “Apparently. I… don’t remember what happened, for that part.”

Sirona gave me a serious look. "If we keep having you fight, are we risking letting that happen again?"

We're risking it whether I fight or not.

"Maybe," I admitted. "But there's risks of people getting hurt no matter what happens. I got this power when Nitroforce dropped a building on me, and now there’s fewer redcapes out there to do that. I took down Wyvern while I was out there, too, and I don’t think Phantasm will be fighting for a while."

Sirona sighed. “It’s true, we don’t have the luxury of perfect answers. But we’ll still have to figure out what’s appropriate, once Cygnus gets back. And I don’t know what consequences this will have.”

I nodded. “Okay. That’s fair.”

A bloop came from Tameka’s computer. “Speaking of which,” she said, “message from him. ‘What the fuck did Fenrir just do?’”

---

“And… then I headed back here,” I finished.

Cygnus looked exhausted. “That… that’s a problem, yeah. I don’t even know what to suggest. Guess once you go wolf, running from fights isn't an option.”

“Did Rudianos say anything about it?” Sirona asked.

“He said he was concerned,” Cygnus replied. “Both about the incident itself, and how it’ll look. He wants Fenrir to come back with me and meet with him tomorrow.”

My stomach twisted. “As in, to talk, or…”

“I don’t think he’s gonna try to detain you or anything,” Cygnus said. “It’d be a whole mess, between us being independent and you being, well, a terrifying wolf monster. But he says there’s complaints to sort out. And, uh… one of those complaints is from Labrys.”

I straightened up in my seat. “What the fuck? He’s still listening to them?”

Cygnus sighed. “I don’t like it either. But he says he has to cover all his bases, he wants to use the meeting to question them as well. So… we should expect them there, too.”

“That could get ugly,” Sirona remarked.

“It could,” Cygnus agreed. “Rudianos says he can keep things civil. I… don’t know if I believe him. Fen, I’m not gonna tell you to attend if you’re not up to it.”

“I’ll go,” I said.

That's the responsible thing to do, right? And after something like that, I need to look responsible. I mean, BE responsible.

Cygnus nodded. “Alright. I’ll tell him.”

---

I stuck to civilian clothes as I headed out with Cygnus, towards the meeting site. I didn’t have normal cape powers right now, and there was no point in trying to obscure what I’d done. Anyone there would already know.

Like our last meeting with Rudianos, we arrived at the top of a roof, but thankfully one with stair access this time. We’d headed over early in hopes of beating Labrys there, but unfortunately, they seemed to have had the same idea.

Inferno, Artemis, and Cybermind stood on one side of the roof. Cybermind wore armor that looked a bit like Artemis's, especially the helmet and wrist laser, but it was lighter, green, and covered in white lines and angles. I hadn't even heard of her having a proper costume.

Rudianos stood on the other side, joined by two other bluecapes. One was Flashstep again, while the other was Seraph, Rudianos's lieutenant. Seraph's outfit was mostly white, with bands of gold and black - she had the ability to fly, and by making contact with someone, she could either heal injuries or inflict them. All three of them had weapons, stowed but visible: Rudianos had his crossbow and an axe, Flashstep had something that looked like a taser, and Seraph had a baton.

Everyone turned as we arrived, but both groups stayed visibly wary of each other. We stood apart from the other two, forming a triangle.

“And there he is,” Inferno remarked. “The man who murdered a woman and stole her body.”

"Murder implies intent," Cygnus declared, "and the death of Joan Dayton was a tragic accident." We’d agreed that he would take the lead in explaining the situation.

"Fenrir went to Hamilton to infiltrate and subvert the redcapes there, acting on my orders," he continued. "There, they successfully eliminated Carapace and Wyvern, and incapacitated Phantasm. Unfortunately, we also learned that Fenrir’s wolf form can go berserk after staying transformed for too long. All powers require trial and error, and the reality of the world we live in is that some of those errors are worse than others. Now that we’re aware of the limitation, we can plan around it, to avoid letting it happen again."

Rudianos nodded. “Thank you, Cygnus. If this is all accurate, it would not be accurate to call it murder.”

“So you’re jumping to give the benefit of the doubt?” Artemis cut in. “Yesterday, Cygnus accused us of police brutality for dispersing a potential riot, using methods that resulted in no injuries. Today, she tells you to ignore Fenrir’s killing of at least one civilian, to simply assume good intentions. Yet you take her side on both counts.”

“I have not reached a conclusion on either matter,” Rudianos said. “And I’ll remind you to speak respectfully of the other capes here. As for the comparison between the two incidents, while Labrys was functioning in a police-like capacity in suppressing the protest, Fenrir was not. If anything, it would be closer to military action.”

Wait, does that mean I could get accused of committing a war crime?

“That’s irrelevant,” Inferno responded. “You’re fussing over our work to keep women safe, more than over someone who admitted to killing and eating a woman. If left unchecked, he may very well continue, while being able to freely impersonate his victims. Is that what you wish to condone?”

“I told you,” Rudianos began, “I’m not-“

“You’re not keeping anyone safe,” Cygnus interrupted. “In the days since you posted your list, a number of people on it have been assaulted or forced to leave their homes or jobs.”

“If anyone faced difficulties from the information we distributed,” Inferno said, “they brought it upon themselves. Helping people to identify and shut out men who sneak into women’s changing rooms, and other sexual predators, is part of our duties as protectors of this city.”

“Outing trans citizens is not part of your duties,” Rudianos declared. “I’ve reminded you before that Cincinnati’s policy is-“

“Cincinnati’s policy is flawed,” Inferno spat back. “Bluecapes have fought to keep our cities safe from creeps like Torch, and yet you’re willing to let those creeps do whatever they want as long as they put on a dress and claim to be women. What the hell do you think we’re fighting for?”

Rudianos’s voice was measured. “We’re fighting for all the people the redcapes would seek to subjugate or eliminate. Women, black, brown, gay, trans… none of those things are incom-“

“And you’re not any of those things,” Inferno said. “Yet you feel the need to lecture us about our needs.”

Rudianos is trying to run this meeting like a courtroom, but he can’t keep control of it.

Cygnus crossed his arms. “I'm a few of them, in case you forgot. You gonna tell me you’re keeping me safe?”

This time, Cybermind was the one to respond. “We’re protecting young girls from feeling compelled to imitate people like you.”

“That’s a no, then,” Cygnus said. “You care about your in-group, and to hell with anyone who doesn’t fit into it.”

Inferno laughed. “That’s rich, coming from the gender cult. You’ll take any girl who acts a bit different from others, tell her she’s not really a girl and better chop off her breasts and everyone has to start treating her like a man. And the same thing in reverse. Have you got Fenrir calling himself a woman, now?”

“I am transfeminine, actually,” I said. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

Specifically, some flavor of nonbinary, but this wasn’t the time to try to explain that. I was throwing enough fuel on the fire already.

Inferno turned back to Rudianos. “And there you have it. Are you seriously going to keep making allowances for this murderous creep?”

“I have no reason to believe Fenrir is a creep, or a murderer,” Rudianos said. “I am willing to try working with the Alchemists to ensure that Fenrir uses his power… her power, safely and without risk to civilians. What still worries me is you. The three of you have shown no acknowledgement of the concerns Cygnus and I have raised about your actions, just a continued assertion of your right to put civilians in danger.”

What the fuck did you expect? That they would suddenly stop being TERFs?

Inferno sighed. “So that’s how it is.”

With a FWOOM, flames burst up to cover Inferno’s body.

Cybermind and Artemis raised their guns, taking aim at Cygnus and Rudianos. Before they could fire, Rudianos pressed a button on his wrist. Everything grew dimmer, as if the sunlight couldn’t reach us as easily.

Inferno’s flames went out, and I felt my stomach churn. Artemis dropped to one knee, as if weighed down too much to stand, and the lights on her and Cybermind’s weapons went dark.

A power suppression field? Guess that was his failsafe. But will that be enough to...

Cybermind tapped a device on her arm. “No.”

Something exploded in the building below us, and the light returned.

Everyone started moving. Inferno’s flames reignited, as Artemis got back to her feet. Flashstep appeared next to Cybermind, yanking her gun to the side. Rudianos drew his crossbow, aiming at Inferno. Seraph flew towards Artemis, as did Cygnus’s whip.

BOOM! Everything became light and heat, I crashed to the floor with my clothes burning. Stop, drop, and roll, right? Got two already, so… I rolled across the roof, smothering the flames.

Thankfully, it seemed to work. With that taken care of, I got to my feet and looked back at the others. Artemis and Cybermind looked uninjured - I got the impression their outfits were built for this. Inferno's flames had mostly faded, which hopefully meant she couldn’t do that too often. Flashstep had collapsed onto the floor in front of Cybermind, with burns across his costume. Cybermind’s ray gun was pointed at his throat.

Cygnus, Rudianos, and Seraph stood across from the Labrys members, each with some burns but less than Flashstep. No one was moving.

“Drop your weapons,” Inferno ordered.

None of them were looking at me.

I reached into my pocket. I’d borrowed a steak knife from the kitchen this morning, and thankfully kept a cover on it. I drew it, and raised it to my own neck.

Have it your way. I'll be your fucking monster.

“Counter-offer,” I declared.

“Ah, of course,” Inferno sneered. “That’s all you people do. If you don’t get your way, you threaten to kill yourselves.”

A nasty grin split my face. “I’ll survive it. Will you?”

Tension hung between us. Seconds passed.

Cybermind broke the silence. “Should we just-“

Before she could finish the sentence, Flashstep glowed yellow and teleported away, reappearing next to Seraph. Cybermind’s shot hit the floor, delayed by her distraction.

I drew back my knife, preparing to drive it into my throat. A flash of silver light interrupted me as Artemis’s laser struck my hand, burning a hole through it. I screamed, dropping the knife, and it clattered off the roof.

Come on, I just got this body yesterday!

Rudianos unloaded his crossbow at Inferno. A wave of flame struck the arrows, and they fell burning to the floor. Seraph reached a hand out to Flashstep, he glowed blue as her healing took effect. Cygnus swung his whip at Cybermind, but stumbled as a laser caught him in the stomach. Thankfully nemenon can take more than that.

My hand throbbed, I tried to flex it but the muscles weren’t working properly. And it was starting to feel… hollow. The same way I’d felt, before the wolf had burst out of me.

I felt the wolf’s hungry form inside me, straining to escape. Pounding at the weak point that had emerged. Could I just… let it?

I glanced back up at the battle. Seraph and Flashstep had reentered the fight, but Inferno's flames kept them at bay. Rudianos’s crossbow caught fire, he dropped it and drew the axe from his back.

Go for it, I told the wolf.

My right hand crumbled into ash, as the wolf’s claw burst out of it. My wrist and arm followed, up to my shoulder. My wolf arm hung down, now about twice as long and twice as thick as my old one. It felt agonizingly empty, the same as my usual wolf form. But the rest of me wasn’t transforming. My stomach, my brain, they were still human.

I could work with this.

Could I have done this anytime? Or is it getting easier to let the wolf out?

I lunged towards Inferno. She can burn the rest of me, but she'll regret it. She was facing off against Rudianos, her flames raging again, while her teammates engaged the others.

Before I could reach her, a burst of flame knocked Rudianos's axe away. Inferno's right hand grabbed the underside of his chin, shoving his face upwards, while her left hand slapped down onto his chest.

"Enough of this," Inferno declared.

The flames covering her body rushed towards her left hand, into some sort of mechanical glove on it. It glowed white, and-

BOOM!

Rudianos toppled over, a gaping hole blown through his chest. His body crashed to the floor.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, we have to-

I ran forward, handling the extra weight of my massive arm better than I’d expected. Must have given some strength to the rest of my body as well. I slashed at Inferno as she approached Cygnus, she countered with a flaming punch. The burn stung, but I could tell the wolf's resilience had helped.

Flashstep appeared behind me and Cygnus. “We gotta bail!” he shouted.

He put a hand on each of our shoulders, and the world glowed yellow. I felt his power pulling at me, and didn’t resist.

We reappeared at street level, down the block from the building we’d fought on top of. Seraph swooped down towards us.

“We had a shot,” I said.

“Not a good enough one,” Flashstep argued. “That explosion, she’d just keep blowing us up.”

“Flashstep is right,” Cygnus said. He turned to Seraph. “About Rudianos…”

Seraph shook her head. “I can’t heal something like that. This is… fuck.”

“Fuck,” Cygnus agreed. “Okay, we need to get out of here and regroup.”

Watching our backs, we made our exit, and headed for Rudianos’s headquarters.