Chapter Seventy - Up and Over

Emily felt as if cold water were being pushed through her veins.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

It was strange, asking the girl right next to her—who was clearly fine if a little uncomfortable—if she was okay, while knowing full well that same girl was in trouble elsewhere. The dichotomy was a little confusing, and Emily didn’t have room for any confusion.

“I’m alright,” Trinity said. “This all-good Hero jerk’s got me by the foot. I’m kicking them in the face, but they’re using stupid powers to stop it.”

Emily nodded. She needed a plan, and she needed it now. There was no time for hesitation or waffling. She needed to act.

“What’s the Hero look like?”

“Uh, I think it’s a girl. She has armour, and a big shield thing over her arm.”

“Black Shield,” Emily guessed. Cement had warned her as much. “Trinity—the you that’s free—run around the building, and tell me what you see out front. We need to know if there are more of them.”

“Got it!” Trinity said.

Emily saw a blur of motion through the slats in the fence as the Trinity still hiding out back spun around and ran.

“If they’re alone… I think we might be able to fight them. Maybe.”

“Heck yeah,” Teddy said, her fist pumping. “I’ll beat them down, no problem.”

“I’ll do what I can to help,” Athena said. “I’ll put the fear of Big Sister Emily in them.”

Trinity nodded. “I’m at the front. There’s only one car. It’s blue.”

Knowing the car that’d likely brought Black Shield over was blue didn’t help Emily much, but she figured that didn’t sound like an official sort of vehicle.

“Okay, we’re moving in,” she said. “The goal isn’t to fight them, it’s to find that painting. It’s supposed to be in a bedroom. Trinity, one of you stays near me, another needs to look for the painting.”

“And the third one fights?” Trinity asked.

“We’ll see,” Emily said.

They needed to get to the Hero first. Which was a thought Emily wasn’t very happy she was having. She looked both ways down the fence, then nodded to herself before running up to it and grabbing the edge. Emily tried to lift herself up and over it, but only managed to jump up and down in place and make herself feel quite silly.

“Lemme help!” Teddy said.

“Help how— Oh,” Emily said as she half-turned and found a large grizzly bear behind her. Teddy reached out, paws carefully angled so her claws weren’t pointing towards Emily, and grabbed Emily around the waist. She squeaked as Teddy rose to her full height, then pushed her towards the fence.

Emily swung her legs over, then sat on the edge. “Okay, okay,” she said as she hung on and balanced herself. “Athena, give me your hand.”

She grabbed Athena’s hand and pulled her up, the girl scrambling against the fence until she was over it and crouching on the lawn.

“Teddy, you’re next, then Trinity,” Emily said. “Trinity, can you keep the Hero distracted?”

“Oh yeah, she’s asking me questions and I’m kicking her,” Trinity said. “I’m kicking her real good too.”

“Uh, well done,” Emily said, pulling Teddy up with a grunt when the girl returned to being a girl. “Keep it up, and don’t tell her anything. We’ll be there to save you soon.”

“So we’re going to kick their butt?” Teddy asked.

“That’s… no, we shouldn’t,” Emily said. “They’re more experienced, probably have better equipment, and they might be able to call in reinforcements. But I don’t want to just… let them win either.”

Athena nodded, and, out of all her sisters, Emily supposed she was the one most likely to get it. “Our win condition isn’t beating the enemy,it’s retrieving the stuff.”

“Exactly,” Emily said.

Athena’s smug smile was practically radiant. Emily landed next to her with a thump of her shoes against the ground, then she pointed to the house and ran over. Her gaggle of sisters followed, surprisingly quiet.

“Oh, she’s tying me up,” Trinity said.

“With what?” Emily asked as they arrived next to Cement’s home. She kept her voice low, a whisper she hoped wouldn’t carry.

Trinity’s nose scrunched. “You know those plastic things, with the knobby bits? They go click-click-click?”

“Zip ties,” Athena said. “Did she have them on her?”

Trinity nodded. “She has a pouch.”

Emily took that in, then closed her eyes. “Okay, here’s the plan. Trinity, I want one of you to sneak in while the Hero’s busy. Athena, I need you to find a way to see her. Make her paranoid—I want her focused on anything but us. Teddy, stay with me here.”

“Yeah, I’ll keep you safe,” Teddy said.

“Trinity, you’re looking for a painting, I think it’s in one of the bedrooms. There should be a ship on it. A big boat.”

Trinity nodded. “Got it,” she said. “Do I go in as two of me?”

“Uh, no, one of you stays here,” Emily said. “Everyone knows their part? Good, let’s go!”

Emily grabbed Athena under the armpits and raised her so she could grab onto the bannister around the balcony. She scurried up and over the edge, landing with a light thump that still sounded far too loud.

“My other me’s going around,” Trinity said. “And the Hero’s asking questions.”

Emily nodded, then paused. She could hear something from just above. She glanced up and noticed the window Trinity had snuck into, still wide open.

Barely hesitating, she grabbed one of the rails and pulled herself up so she was closer to the window.

“—won’t tell me who you are?” an unfamiliar voice asked. It was muffled, a voice passing through a mask.

“I’m not telling you nothing!” was Trinity’s reply.

“If you won’t tell me, then perhaps you’ll squeal to the authorities. You do know that breaking and entering is a crime, right?”

“I wish being ugly was a crime. That way you’d be all arrested and stuff.”

“… You’re one of the reasons I hate children,” the Hero said.

Athena leaned over next to the window, then pulled back. “I see her,” she whispered. “I can start?”

Emily gave her a thumbs up. “Distract her away from Trinity,” she said.

The owl girl nodded, then frowned as she peeked back out again. Her power didn’t have much flashiness to it, so it didn’t surprise Emily that there wasn’t much to see. The Hero did pause, her questions to Trinity stopping.

Athena pulled back, not quickly, just a slow movement that wouldn’t draw attention. She made a thumbs up to Emily without looking back.

Footsteps in the house as the Hero moved around, slow, cautious steps.

Emily tried to think of a way to get the Hero to leave the house outright, but nothing came to mind.

“I’m almost there!” Trinity said. “Should I try to rescue the other me?”

Emily shook her head. It wouldn’t do to have the Hero turn around and see a missing Trinity. They weren’t exactly being subtle as it was. She was almost afraid that the Hero would hear her heart, thumping away in her chest like a wardrum.

“I’m in,” Trinity whispered. “She didn’t see me.”

“Nice work,” Emily whispered back. “You too, Athena.”

There was a crash in the house, a loud bang, and the crack and clatter of glass bursting apart. “Oops,” Trinity said. “I, uh, have good news and bad news,” she said.

“What is it?” Emily asked.

“Found the safe thing. And, uh, I got the painting off from in front of it,” Trinity said.

“Wait, how did you— Come here!” came a shout from within the house.

“Okay,” Emily said. “Plan B. Athena, keep her off balance. Teddy, get in there and corner her. Trinity, one of you stay out of trouble, but try to free yourself and… I don’t know, hit her from weird angles.”

“Got it!” Trinity cheered.

There were more sounds in the house, things crashing, stuff falling down, drywall being cracked, and a few choice words from the so-called Heroine that Emily really didn’t approve of hearing near her sisters.

Emily jumped over the balcony fence, then reached out and tried the backdoor. It wasn’t locked.

“Teddy, get in there,” she said.

“No problem, Boss!” Teddy said before she bolted past her.

Emily only had a moment to take in the kitchen and the living room past that before she ducked back into cover.

She figured everything was about to go terribly wrong.

“Who are you? Why are there so many violent children in this stupid house?!”

“Die, capitalist scum!”

Terribly, terribly wrong.

***