Nicole woke up on a carpeted floor with her head resting atop a pillow. Her legs were heavy as cement, her arm

s like they had barbells tied to them. Everything was a rush of pain and exhaustion. She hadn’t felt like this since the first time she’d run eleven miles back in high school. Part of her was shining with accomplishment and pride, but the vast majority of her was questioning every choice she’d made up until this point. 

Until she saw Amy lying on the floor next to her in a similar state of affairs. 

Nicole sat up in a rapid, jerking motion, only for lightheadedness to overwhelm her and nearly smack her back down to the ground. She pinched the bridge of her nose and drank in her surroundings: all five of her teammates were lying on the floor, with pillows supporting their heads and plain periwinkle blankets keeping them warm. Nicole was in the center, Amy on her left side and Cass on her right. The room was wide, with white walls and a green carpet. A rocking chair sat in front of the lone window letting in the colorful light of mid-dawn, and in that rocking chair sat Father Gonzalez, barely conscious. 

“Father?” Nicole asked. 

He jerked awake and rubbed his eyes. “Mija. You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

“Like death warmed over,” Nicole said, yawning. “Where are we?”

“The rectory behind the chapel,” Father Gonzalez said. “The hospital was overflowing, so they started bringing people here for sanctuary. When I saw you all, I had you brought back here to keep an eye on you all.”

“Thank you,” Nicole said. “I’m not crazy about hospitals, so seriously, thank you.”

“Of course, Mija. Least I can do, given you six saved the city last night.”

“Last night- it’s Halloween still, right?”

“Yeah. Bright early on All Hallows’ Eve,” Gonzalez said. “At least it’s over now.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Nicole said. She told him of how her most recent encounter with Winona had ended. 

“Well… That…,” Gonzalez started. “I don’t really know what to make of that.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

“But Mija, if what you say is true… You fought off demonic possession on your own. That’s… That’s incredible! Only one other person has ever done that before!”

“Who?” Nicole asked. “Was it another magical girl? Are there, like, precursors to our team that we don’t know about or something?”

“No, actually, it was me,” came a voice from the doorway. Sister Quinn stood in her nun’s habit covered in dirt and grime and blood, her brown face haggard and worn-down. 

“Sister Quinn, you,” Nicole said, “You- that’s amazing! Blue Blazes! How did you-”

“Another time, another place, I’ll be more than happy to tell you about it, Mija,” Sister Quinn responded. “For now, though, I could use your help with healing some of the patients we have out in the church.”

Nicole looked down at her hands and searched within her heart. The pink marble of Light was still in there, but it was dimmer than it had been yesterday. She reached for it, and the Holy Power flowed through her, but her muscles ached and her skull throbbed. She drew in short, sharp breaths as she tried to transform, as pastel ribbons began to form around her but fell apart before she could complete the change. “I don’t think I can,” Nicole said. “What we did last night took a lot of me… Out of all of us.”

“Poor girl,” Sister Quinn said, ambling over to her and putting her hand on Nicole’s forehead. “You must’ve pushed yourself too much, pulled a spiritual muscle of sorts. No fever at least- it’s a miracle you’re even awake right now.”

Nicole sighed. She wanted to go help the people in the church. She wanted to wake up her friends so they could go out and search for Winona and Aidan. She wanted to fix everything so it could all go back to normal… 

… But she couldn’t. She’d over-exerted herself and been benched, at least for the time being. She needed to recharge, or she’d be unable to help anyone. 

Still though… 

“Is there anything I can do to help, though?” she asked. “Bringing people water or something? If anyone’s having trouble walking, I can start working them through the basics of PT.”

“Well I guess we have our proof the possession didn’t take,” Father Gonzalez said wryly. 

“Why don’t you rest a little longer,” Sister Quinn said. “You can help out when you’re back to full capacity, or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof. Okay?” 

Nicole closed her eyes and breathed in and out through her nose. She’d gone through a whole journey last night learning this exact lesson. Time to prove she’d earned the A. “Okay,” Nicole said. “Could I… I dunno, get something to eat then? Start getting my strength back up.”

Father Gonzalez stood up and smiled. “Abe has a stew cooking in the rectory kitchen. I’ll see if they can spare some.”

“Thank you,” Nicole smiled. It was okay, this was okay, for now this was okay. 

Wait, what about-

A thumping sounded over the wooden hallway floor as someone approached. A young man balancing on a cane limped towards them and into the room. 

“Zack,” Nicole sobbed. 

Her brother held his hand over his gut, where his shirt had torn open and everything was stained with blood. A broken, beaten smile graced his face, while he balanced all his weight on the cane. “Hey, sis.”

Two words and everything was okay. Everything was forgiven. Everything was right. 

“Zack!” Nicole found her feet and rushed over and wrapped her arms around her brother. And for the first time in years, he hugged her back. They hadn’t done this since Zack was a little kid- he’d developed an intense aversion to people hugging him sometime around the beginning of middle school. 

“Easy, easy- I got a bullet fished outta me earlier,” Zack said. 

“Oh no!” Nicole said. She pooled Pink Light into her hands, but pain instantly speared her skull. 

“Hey, hey don’t,” Zack said. “You’re hurt too. I’ll be fine until you get your strength up. Besides, I’ve been shot in the gut twice now coming to see you- maybe I oughta live with this one for a little bit.”

Nicole gave a grim chuckle. That was… Shockingly mature of him. Almost too mature. 

“Why don’t we go somewhere where we can talk?” Zack asked. In the light, there was something different about his face than before as well. Usually his beard stubble would be growing back in by now- it always came in thick for him the next morning, but there was none. And his hair looked lighter than its usual dark brown, though that could have simply been the dawn light coming through the windows and refracting off of it. And his voice was… Off. Just slightly higher than it’d been last she’d heard it. 

“Sure,” Nicole said. 

The two siblings limped together out of the room and down the hall into the kitchen, where Abe served them two bowls of beef stew with carrots and potatoes. Nicole wafted the rich, salty scent before spooning a mouthful down her throat. “It’s like I forgot how good food was and then I tasted this and…,” Nicole trailed off. “Mmm!”

“Right?” Zack said. “Almost as good as Mom’s.”

“Almost,” Nicole agreed. “No offense, Abe.”

Abe shrugged, then excused themself, their tan duster brushing the surface of the floor as they left. 

“So,” Nicole said. “Mom gave me a call last night before everything went pear-shaped.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” Nicole said. She reiterated what Mom had told her, and then said to Zack, “Is it true?”

“Yeah. It’s all true, Nicole.”

Warmth and joy ran through her as her brother said her real name for the first time. Nicole gulped and smiled, and then she put her hand on Zack’s head and tousled his hair. Then she flicked him on the forehead. 

“Ow!” Zack said. And yet he didn’t… Like it was someone else saying it, someone who hadn’t truly registered the feeling. “What was that for?”

“For getting into a fight and running away and worrying our parents and worrying me! And for everything else you’ve pulled, Zachary,” Nicole grinned. 

“Okay, okay, I deserve that.” 

What the heck is going on? Zack would never say that! “Then explain yourself, boy,” Nicole said, eyes narrow. 

“I just… I couldn’t listen to what they were saying about you. I felt so… So ashamed of myself. Of what I am. It just pissed me off-”

“Language-”

“Don’t,” Zack snapped, a little too much venom in his voice. “I was… I was defending you. Protecting you. The way you do for me.”

“Zack,” Nicole said evenly. “That’s hogwash.”

“God, will you just talk like a normal person for once-”

“Zack, seriously, you need to listen to me-”

“Okay, okay, fine.”

“Thank you,” Nicole said. Maybe it’s just my imagination. Maybe I’m just exhausted and frustrated and this is all bringing up a lot of baggage for me. “Look, I just need to ask: what changed? A month ago, you wanted nothing to do with me. You were ashamed of me. I thought… I thought you hated me. So is it that you actually changed your mind, or is it just that you started getting grief about me in school?”

Zack stirred his stew, then looked up at her with his mouth pressed into a straight line. “Guilt. That’s what changed. The whole time… I felt guilty about what I said to you. I wasn’t ashamed of you, I was ashamed of myself for how I’d acted. I’d been told beforehand I was supposed to think one thing about… About queer people. And then suddenly it turns out we’ve got one in our family. And… I dunno, I guess the Catholic guilt just got to me. You don’t just… Abandon your family because you disagree with what they are.”

“And now? Do you still disagree with what I am? Who I am?”

Zack stared intently into his stew.

“Zack, please answer the question.”

“Honestly?” he said, not looking up. “Yes.”

A fresh lance of pain went through Nicole’s chest. “Are you freaking kidding me?!”

“What, you asked.”

“You could’ve… Could’ve….”

“Lied? You taught me better than that,” Zack said. “Besides, I know I’m wrong and you’re right. I may not like it, but I can learn to live with it.”

Still a butthead. Maybe this is Zack. “Fair enough,” Nicole sighed. “So then why’d you come to see me?”

“I needed to apologize to you in person,” Zack said. “The guilt was eating me alive, keeping me up at night, giving me nightmares, like there was a porcupine wandering around inside my stomach stabbing at the lining all day, every day. I hurt our family, and it’s probably the only thing any of us have, so I wanted… I dunno, wanted to look you in the face and see if I could get an apology out.”

“Okay,” Nicole said. “I’m waiting.”

Zack’s face twisted with what looked like physical pain, and an air of despondency hung from his voice. “I’m sorry, Nicole.”

The first time Zack had ever had to apologize for something, he’d tugged on his ear while doing it. Every time since then, he’d taken his left hand and tugged on his left earlobe. 

Not this time. 

He was either lying… 

… Or this wasn’t Zack.

No powers. Whole team is unconscious. And I’m right next to a church full of wounded civilians, Nicole thought. Blue Blazes. “You’re sorry for what?”

“... For insulting you?”

“Don’t say it like it’s a question, young man.”

“Okay, okay- I’m sorry for insulting you. I’m sorry for… For…”

“For what?”

“For saying you’re not a woman.”

“So am I a woman?” Nicole asked.

“I…”

“Am I a woman?” Nicole asked, voice flattening.

“Well…”

“Are you?” Nicole asked. Perfect- if this is a demon, he’ll try to play it off as a joke. If it’s actually Zack, he’ll get wicked mad at me. 

Zack put his spoon in his bowl and stared into it like it was the most fascinating thing in all the world. A tear dropped down from his eye and shattered on the table. “I don’t know.”

… I’m sorry, what? “I’m sorry, what?”

Zack’s face was an impressionist mural of anguish, all broad angry brushstrokes depicting some brutal inner struggle. “What if I said I might be a girl? What would you do then?”

I’d tell you that I see you and that I care about, and if you want to explore that possibility I’ll support you no matter what conclusion you come away with. But even if that is true, there is no way in heck Zack would ever admit that to me. Not like this. “I’d say I love you no matter what.”

Zack sighed, and rolled his eyes, and said, “Of course you would.”

“What does that mean?” Nicole said, eyes narrowing. 

“I’m just saying that from a certain perspective, that kinda makes it worse. That even after all this, you’re still taking the moral high ground.”

Well this could go either way, then. “Excuse you?”

“I’m just saying, sometimes it is not easy having you for an older sibling.”

“Sister.”

“Right, right of course. But like… You just don’t ever switch off the whole ‘nice, forgiving Christian thing’ do you?”

“It’s who I am.”

“Uh-huh. Sure it is.”

“Same with a woman,” Nicole said. “That’s who I am too.”

“Yes.”

“Is it who you are?”

Zack looked about ready to vomit. “Why do you ask?”

“Why would you say something like what you said just now if not-”

“It was a hypothetical-”

“Weird hypothetical-”

“You’re the one who posed the question in the first place- why’d you do that?” Zack asked. 

Nicole stared straight into her brother’s eyes… And saw something screaming back there behind the pools of blue. “I wanted to make sure that you’re still you.”

“Oh? And what conclusion have you come to, Nick?”

Nicole cringed, then said, “I’m not sure.”

“Heh. You’re not sure. Might be the first time I’ve ever heard that from you. But Zack on the other hand, he’s never sure-”

And there it is. “Don’t you mean ‘you’re never sure?’”

Zack blinked. “Shit.”

Nicole grabbed her brother’s body by the lapel, yanked him from his seat, and slammed him against the wooden wall of the kitchen. She reached into her heart and found a flicker of Holy Light, just a little sliver, just enough to spark on her hands and cause the demon wearing her brother’s flesh to hiss with pain. “Get out of my brother,” Nicole growled. 

“Heh,” the demon smirked. “Your ‘brother.’ Right. Of course. What gave it away?”

“Lotta little things,” Nicole said. “I did practically raise the kid.”

“I have all his memories-”

“Yeah, but not even Zack is this much of a butthead.”

“Satan, you just refuse to talk like a normal person, don’t’cha?”

“So help me, I will drag you into that chapel and throw you on the cross if you don’t LET HIM GO RIGHT NOW!” Nicole screamed. 

“Why do you want this little shit back, exactly?” the demon asked. “Seriously, he hates you. Resents you. Is jealous of you. I can feel it, all that rage and envy and entitlement festering inside him. You don’t even know how much you’ve messed him up-”

Nicole screamed, “FATHER GONZALEZ!”

The priest came running. “What’s going on, Mija!?”

“Gonna need your help taking out some trash,” Nicole said. 

They dragged Zack’s struggling body into the church basement and deposited him in a chair, Father Gonzalez holding a crucifix an inch from Zack’s face as he struggled in Nicole’s arms. They tied him to the chair, and Father Gonzalez pulled out his Bible. He flipped through pages and then slammed his hand into one to stop. He started saying the exorcism rites, the Latin syllables that made Zack’s body wince and cringe. 

“He’ll never forgive you for this,” the demon said, staring into Nicole. 

“I’m saving him,” Nicole said evenly, holding the crucifix in hand, along with the cord for the hanging bucket of Holy Water. 

“You’re dragging him out of the frying pan and into the fire,” the demon growled. “He’s not ready to face the world, not as what he truly is.”

“And what’s that?”

“He’s a tranny, like you,” Zack’s face contorted as the demon spoke, eyes swimming with darkness, sparks of Hellfire erupting from beneath the skin. “This place had all fallen down around him not twelve hours erstwhile, thanks to that lunatic prophet and her manwhore hobo, and without even meaning to he put the whole thing back together again.”

“That doesn’t mean anything- Magical Boys exist-”

“But they need a weapon to channel their powers into,” the demon said. “This little shit didn’t have any such thing. He channeled directly through his hands, and he put humpty-dumpty back together again. But he knew what it meant, and his egg broke open and now he’s desperately trying to piece it back together. Too bad you showed him what it really meant, and now he can’t unsee it. He knows what he really is because of YOU, and he hates you for it!”

Gonzalez screamed a paragraph of Latin, and the demon screeched and spasmed in its chair. Nicole pulled out a Bible as well and looked for the page Gonzalez was on, and began reciting the rites herself. The demon screamed and screamed and screamed, until one of its eyes went from black to blue. “N-Nick? Please, stop hurting me! I’m so scared- you promised you’d never hurt me-”

That was when Sister Quinn walked up from behind them and splashed a goblet of Holy Water onto Zack’s chest. He screamed as both eyes went black again. 

“Don’t listen to it,” Sister Quinn said, “And give me that book. You talk to your sibling. Let us handle the rest.”

“Okay,” Nicole nodded. She turned to her… Sibling and didn’t look away, didn’t blink. “Zack… I know you can hear me. I need you to listen. I love you. And I forgive you. What you said… It hurt me, but I’ve healed since you said it.”

“He doesn’t care,” the demon said. “He doesn’t love you!”

The Latin kept going, and going, and going, and Zack’s body twisted and cracked more and more. Nicole inched closer and knelt down in front of him. “No matter who you are, I’ll protect you. No matter what you do, I’ll protect you. That’s what big sisters are for, okay? We will figure this out together. This demon can’t have you. You don’t have to decide who you are right now, just so long as you come back to our family.”

And Zack screamed, and screamed, and screamed… And his hands began to hum with Holy Light. 

***

In Cass’ dreams, an owl soared through the wreckage of the city of Boston as smoke strangled the sunshine out of the sky and fires burned everything in sight. It flew and flew and flew until it reached a crater where Ditko Hall had formerly resided. 

Where the casing of a bomb sat in the center. 

It had been the first to go off, but not the last. 

That was when she woke up, on her back in the church rectory. She sat up instantly, and registered her unconscious teammates on the ground with her. Her ribs ached and her hands were a mess of bruises and calluses and her skull was like an overused bongo drum. She grinded her teeth together and raked her hand through her hair. 

“Ah, Ms. Ortiz,” the Bishop said as he wheeled himself into the room. His electric wheelchair hummed as it pushed him forward, his haggard face that of someone severely sleep-deprived. “You’re awake- how are you-”

“Where are Nicole and Zack?” she asked, stars dancing in front of her eyes as she climbed onto two feet. 

“Er… Well, Zack is possessed, so they’re performing an exorcism in the church basement.”

Cass ran forward, and immediately fell onto her face. A fresh thud of pain swam through her skull. “Fuck,” she muttered. 

The Bishop offered her a hand up. “What’s the matter-”

“Bombs!” Cass said. “There’s one under Ditko Hall, and there’s more throughout the city.”

“What?! Where?!” 

“I don’t know, at least not for all of them, but Zack’s demon might know! C’mon.”

They raced to the church basement, where Zack was tied to a chair snarling and glowing with radiance equal parts white and black while Father Gonzalez and Sister Quinn performed the rites. Nicole held her sibling’s hand as she knelt in front of them, whispering to them what were presumably words of reassurance. 

“Wait!” Cass cried as puffs of acrid smoke began to billow out of Zack’s mouth. 

Everything went silent, save for the demon’s cries. 

“Cass, what are you doing?!” Nicole demanded. 

“Bombs! There are bombs! Winona and the Sin-Eater put bombs around the city!”

“We’ve already called the police about the one under Ditko Hall,” the Bishop explained. “But there are at least six others, according to Ms. Ortiz.”

“Dios,” Father Gonzalez said, rubbing his face. 

“Where are the other bombs!” Cass said, marching over to Zack’s battered body. “WHERE?!”

“Heheheheheh,” the demon giggled as the white light slowly faded and black sparks shot out from him. Nicole grunted as steam leaked from their joined hands, and she pulled away from him. “I’ll never tell.”

“If you don’t wanna wind up back in the Floodwater, you’ll TALK!” Cass said. 

“Oh please, you’re sending me there anyway, so this idiot can have her precious little brother back,” the demon said. “There’s literally nothing for me to gain by cooperating with you clowns! And it looks like you’ve got a choice- you can try to torture the information out of me without accidentally killing this stupid little fag, or you can go out and look for the bombs. On foot, presumably, given how well your powers are working-”

Nicole took a deep breath, and then erupted with pink light. Ribbons surrounded her, and Cass heard the song of angels ring from above as she appeared resplendent in her Magical Girl form. 

“HOW?!” the demon howled. “HOW ARE YOU-”

“THE POWER OF LOVE!” she snapped. “NOW SHUT UP AND GET OUT OF MY SIBLING!” Nicole poured White Light into her hands, but it flickered and dimmed the harder she concentrated on it. 

“HA!” the demon said.

“Fine then,” Nicole said, breathing in long, slow breaths. The light around her hands turned to Pink, and she offered a hand to Cass. “I’ve only got enough for one, and you’re here, and you’re a Prophet, and you’re almost as fast a flier as me-”

Cass grinned. “Almost?”

“Shut up and gimme a high five, Ortiz.”

“Heh. Absolutely, Nygaard.”

Cass took her hand, and her ribs stitched back together, and her hands smoothed and relaxed as the carpal tunnel was massaged out of them. She reached for the Word of God as it echoed inside her soul, and she let it scream out into the world as she transformed. 

She stood in her red dress with her red hat and summoned her broom. The world spun around her briefly, but she shook her head and steadied herself. “Let’s do this.”

Nicole turned to Father Gonzalez and Sister Quinn. “You take care of Zack- I want them back to normal by the time I’m back.” She turned to the demon. “Zack. It’s like I said before. No matter who you are, who you wanna be, it’s okay. Who you were before, even with the mistakes you made, is okay too. You can be that person, or whomever you wanna be. I love you, and I will protect you no matter what, but if I’ve learned anything this past month it’s that you need to love and protect yourself as well. And that starts with forgiving yourself. So please try. I know it’s scary in there, drowning in the Floodwater, but I promise you that you have the strength and virtue to rise above it. I will be back for you, I promise.”

And with that, they left. They told Abe to wake up the others as soon as possible to have them look around the church for bombs while the clergy members worked on exorcizing the demon from Zack. They stepped out into the city and launched into the air. The wind wrapped around Cass as all the troubles of the world on the ground reached up to pull her back down.

“Are you okay?” Cass asked. 

“No,” Nicole said. 

Huh. She’s usually not that straight-up, Cass thought. 

“Are you okay?” Nicole asked.

“I will be once we find all these bombs,” Cass said. 

“Where are we looking for them?” Nicole asked. “Should we split up to search?”

“My vision put the big craters and blast zones at city landmarks- Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere’s House, and Fenway Park were the three I know I saw, but I don’t know exactly where in any of those cases,” Cass said as they shot towards the Freedom Trail.

“Then let’s start with those- the cops are already spread thin because of last night, and if the National Guard is coming I don’t see them yet.”

“Gotcha. I’ll take Paul Revere, you take Faneuil,” Cass said. “After that, let’s meet up at Fenway and take it from there.”

“Sounds good!” Nicole said, shooting off like a pink rocket, gritting her teeth and bunching her fists. 

“Never seen her this determined,” Cass said idly. Then she furrowed her brow. “Better try to keep up!”

And off she flew, a crimson streak across the dawn-lit sky. 

***

Amy woke up to a rough jostling. She opened her eyes and saw Abe standing over her, shaking her awake. She felt like she’d been run over with a road roller, but the look on Abe’s face told her she needed to stand up. 

They explained the situation to her as the two of them woke up the others. When everyone was awake and told to fan out and look, however, Amy turned to Abe and said, “Take me to them. To Zack, I mean. I need to give him a piece of my mind.”

“Which one? Zack or the demon?” Abe asked. 

“Both,” she said as she marched into the basement while the others searched for the bombs. “I think my methods of persuasion will help as well.”

Father Gonzalez and Sister Quinn screamed in Latin while the demon wearing Zack’s skin rose up and down and spat out plumes of Hellfire. Spear in hand, Amy snuffed out all the black flames and walked over to the chair. 

She grabbed Zack by the hair and pulled him in close. “Hi. We haven’t really talked before. My name’s Amy, and I’m infatuated with your big sister. What say we have a heart to heart while the clergy does its job?”