Cass let the red light of her transformation engulf her as she extended both hands: one in front of her, towards Astra; the other behind her, towards her bedroom window. She willed forth a massive burst of telekinesis, a high-pressure jolt of pure power that released like a buckshot towards her enemy and shoved her into the wall. Then she shot another blast behind her, blowing out the window to her dorm room with a high-pitched shattering cry as she summoned her broom and jumped out the window. 

She fell through the air, wondering, as she often did, if she should ask Amy and Debbi to teach her how to tumble. Their cheerleading experience had been a major boon to their aerial battle skills, and they’d both pointed out to her that her small frame made her perfect for the flips and cartwheels and whatnot. 

The thoughts dashed about her brain in every direction, the inside her head still sore and stinging from the vision. She reached for her broom… And missed, falling freely throughout the air, the ground rapidly coming up to meet her. 

She’d always known her powers, being literal magic, didn’t necessarily abide by Newton’s Laws of Motion: there was no kick-back when she gave something a shove with her telekinesis. Pushing off against the ground wouldn’t automatically nullify the momentum of her freefall. 

So instead, she reached for herself. The speed and momentum of her fall were like water leaking out of an old pipe. She saw it in her mind’s eye, and she imagined pressing her hands against it, keeping the water dammed through force of will. Slowly, her fall lost momentum, and she stopped an inch short of the ground before taking her hands off the proverbial leak and letting herself land on the cold, damp pavement. 

The filthy, frigid water soaked her clothes and face, and she grunted. 

Then she looked up and saw a silver-scaled, white-clawed dragon flying directly towards her. 

“Oh COME ON!” she screamed. She re-summoned her broom and took flight, shooting high into the air and away from her dorm, away from the school, away from the city. On the way up, she saw Astra standing inside her wrecked room, flipping her off and smirking. 

Cass gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to fly into the dorm and ripped that smug smile off the demon’s face. Evidently, however, Astra wanted to keep rubbing it in, because she leapt out the building onto the back of the dragon and rode it through the air, giving chase. 

“FUCK!” Cass shouted as her opponent copied her vertical flight pattern higher and higher above the city’s skyline. 

She looked back and saw Astra pumping more obsidian Hellfire into her blade, volleying lobs of the infernal flame towards her. 

Cass swung left, right, up, down, diagonal, desperately trying to avoid the dragon and its rider and the hot, hot bales of Hellfire they lobbed. She soared higher and higher, feeling the bite of the cold air grow sharper and more intense the closer to the cloud line she rose. She could do this- she was the fastest flier there ever was, nothing could outrace her, not even a dragon. Just so long as the dragon didn’t start breathing fire at her-

“OH FUCKING FUCK!” Cass screamed as temperature raised around her and smoke wafted out of the silver-gray dragon’s nostrils. A massive jet of orange flame swam towards her, and she pivoted hard-right, the pressure against her skin sharpening and strengthening and threatening to pry her off of her broomstick. 

She narrowly dodged the jet of flames, only for a ball of black Hellfire to head towards her. 

She jerked left, winding up between the two columns of fire. 

Astra smiled, baring all of her teeth as she took aim and closed in the two streams of fire around Cass. 

Cass knew she couldn’t turn upwards- the angle was all wrong. She couldn’t go right or left, either. 

In her panic, she did the only thing she could: she fell. Her broomstick vanished out from under her, and she fell. 

The air rushed and whirled around her as she plummeted towards the ground. She reached deep within herself, and gathered as much strength as she possibly could, feeling it pulsate and tremble within her, as if an earthquake resided within her soul. She aimed it with her hands and fired it at Astra and her dragon. 

***

Matt’s heart seized up as he stared at the gaping hole in the side of Cass’ building. It was on the fourth floor- on her floor. East-corner window, facing the four-way intersection on the street below. That was Cass’ room. 

“What the heck happened here?” Gabriel asked, standing behind Matt.

They’d sparred for over an hour, Gabriel showing Matt the basics of true swordsmanship, as well as how to transform his weapons mid-combat. It had been a good lesson, and honestly, Matt had been grateful to finally have someone else with a similar powerset as him. When it was over, Gabriel offered to walk with Matt, saying his hotel was nearby regardless. 

And now… 

Now… Matt nearly dropped to his knees and screamed. 

This was… Was… 

She… 

“She’s gone,” Matt said, panic and terror lacerating the interior of his mind. She’s gone, and I couldn’t do anything. I wasn’t there. I wasn’t… Wasn’t…

“You don’t know that,” Gabriel said. “She could be around here somewhere.”

“I couldn’t do anything,” Matt said, barely hearing his own words, barely registering Gabriel’s hand on his shoulder. “I’m completely fucking useless. And I’m a doom magnet.”

“Matt, seriously, you need to get a grip,” Gabriel said. 

A high-pitched scream vaguely touched the periphery of Matt’s awareness. “I know, I know, I just… I never… I never got to tell her.”

“Tell her what?”

“That I’ve been in love with her for years, ever since she saved my worthless fucking life,” Matt said. 

“Matt, buddy- can I call you buddy?”

“Why not?” Matt shrugged, his shoulders unfamiliar, distant objects operated via remote control. 

“Buddy, I think she might be closer than you think,” Gabriel said. 

“How do you mean, Mr. Gabriel, sir?”

“Why are you calling me ‘Mr. Gabriel sir?’ I’m only a few years older than you,” Gabriel said. “Eh, whatever, I like getting gendered correctly. How I mean is, maybe you should look up. Like, directly up. Right now.”

Matt blinked a half-dozen times in rapid succession, then tilted his head forty-five degrees upwards. At which point he realized the source of the high-pitched screaming: Cass was falling from the sky, directly towards him. 

Matt’s eyes went wide, and tears of joy filled the entirely as he spread his arms. Cass slowly decreased the velocity of her fall- he could see her closing her open hands into a fist, gradually taking away speed and momentum until finally, gently, she floated into Matt’s outstretched arms. 

She only stopped screaming when she stopped moving. 

Matt’s jaw was a shattered pile of debris on the asphalt ground, while Cass locked eyes with him and blushed even redder than her uniform. Her hat had fallen off somewhere in the descent, while her midnight-colored curls framed her face perfectly. 

“Hi,” Cass said, swallowing a gulp. 

“Hey,” Matt said. “Um, so you saved my life once, like five years back, when I was homeless. And, uh, I’ve been mildly in love with you ever since that happened.”

“That was you?!” Cass exclaimed. “I always wondered what happened to that kid! Santa Miedra!”

“Holy fuck you remember me? You remember that?” Matt said, his heart beating at a million miles per hour, everything becoming clear and simple and easy. “I didn’t say anything because I thought it would make me sound like a creepy stalker or something!”

“No, no, not at all!” Cass said, her beautiful fucking smile overtaking her face as a whooshing noise began to fill the air. “I just… I can’t believe we met before this year. That’s so… So damn cute, you’re just so damn cute. Oh. Mi Corazón.”

“Cara Mia,” Matt uttered. 

“Hey, uh, guys,” Gabriel said. “Y’all are fucking adorable and that’s great, but there’s something you should be aware of.”

“Que?” Cass and Matt said simultaneously. 

Gabriel pointed upwards once again, towards a massive silver beast flying directly down from the cloudy sky above. 

“Santa Miedra,” Matt said. 

“You can say that again,” Cass said. “That’s what knocked me out of the sky. I don’t see Astra though.”

“Astra was here?!” Matt said. 

“Was, yeah- she showed up and tried to kill me,” Cass said. She climbed out of Matt’s arms and re-summoned her broom. “Hey, Gabriel, how do you feel about being bait?”

“I love being bait!” Gabriel said. 

Matt squinted, and so did Cass. Mr. Gabriel certainly was an odd one.

“You know how to get to the water from here?” Cass said. 

Gabriel nodded.

“You still got those dragon eggs on you?” Cass asked. 

“Never let ‘em outta my sight,” Gabriel said, tugging on the strap of his backpack. 

“Run out onto the water and don’t stop,” Cass said. “Matt and I are gonna follow you, try to take the thing from behind. We need to get this thing away from civilians, where we can slay it without anyone getting hurt. You okay with this plan?”

“Sure!” Gabriel smiled. 

Without hesitation, he unsheathed his saber and handed Matt the scabbard. Gabriel transformed, and he took off in a flash. 

Sure enough, as if operating via a tracking device, the dragon shifted its course to follow Gabriel to the water. 

“Okay, let’s do this,” Matt said. “If Astra’s making a play, then we have to assume the whole team is in danger. So, we kill this thing, then we go to check on your family?”

“Good idea,” Cass said. “And, uh, also, before we start, in case I don’t get a chance to do this until later…”

“What?” Matt asked. 

She grabbed his lapel and pulled him for the kiss. Her warm, soft lips and aggressive tongue overtook every other sense and sensation for him, a massive stirring shooting up as the desire to pin this girl against a wall and fuck her brains out started to override his other thoughts.  

Unfortunately, after a very long, very pleasant handful of seconds, she pulled away, and gestured for him to get on the back of her broom. 

Steam practically pouring out of him, Matt sat behind her, wrapping his arms around her stomach and sniffing her as the massive high of the kiss continued to resonate in his head and… Other places.

“Why Mr. Callahan, is that a chainsaw in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” Cass said as they took flight. 

Matt transformed in a flash of blue light and turned his scabbard into a glowing chainsaw. “It can be both things, Cara Mia.”

***

Amy’s car pulled up to Nicole’s parents’ house, and Nicole smiled as she saw her father waiting for them on the front porch nursing a hot coffee. 

“You ready?” Nicole said to her girlfriend.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Amy smiled and gave her a peck on the lips.

Nicole smiled back, and they got out of the car and approached her home. 

“Sunshine!” Dad said, standing up to greet them. He was clad in jeans and a red flannel over a black Iron Maiden t-shirt. 

“Hi, Dad,” Nicole said, a wave of warm and fuzzy nostalgia washing over her. This was her home, her father was there, and she was… She was finally herself. She’d always loved this house, always loved her family, and now… Now she felt like she deserved it. She hadn’t felt like it before, she’d felt fake, hollow, worthless, but now… Now she felt like she could be truly happy in this place. 

Her Dad gave her a big bear hug, and then did the same with Amy. “You two want some help with your bags?”

“That would be fantastic,” Nicole said.

“By the way, your mother and I discussed it, and we decided that it would be fine if you two want to share a bedroom this weekend,” Dad said. 

Nicole gulped, then clapped her hands together a few times rapidly. “Really?”

“Yup!” Dad said, taking Amy’s duffel bag from the trunk. 

“Thank you, Mr. Nygaard,” Amy said. “I really appreciate you welcoming me into your home like this.”

“Of course!” Dad said. “You make Nicole happy, you make me happy- simple as that. And please, call me Peter. Mr. Nygaard was my father, and fortunately for everyone, he’s dead. Well, dead to me, anyway.”

Nicole laughed like she always did at that joke. Amy looked at her and gave a nervous chuckle, then leaned into it more when she registered Nicole found it genuinely funny. She’d have to explain to Amy sometime that Grandpa had disowned his son when he found out he’d knocked up Mom back in high school. He was apparently still living back in New Castle, and Nicole and her sisters had never met him. Based on Dad’s descriptions of him, that was probably for the best. 

“Alright, let’s get you two inside,” Dad said. “I’ve got salmon on the grill ready for lunch.”

“Sounds delicious,” Nicole said. 

Then her phone went off, and so did Dad’s. Automatically, they checked it and saw Mom had messaged the family group chat with ‘EMERGENCY AT THE SCHOOL.’

“I think we’ve got trouble,” Nicole said. 

“Oh?” Amy said. 

“Work.”

“Oh.”

“Go,” her father said. “Just come back safe, okay.”

“Will do, Dad,” Nicole said. 

Then, without hesitation, she transformed and took flight alongside Amy.

***

Iris hesitated, and the consequences were immediate. Burt stood up and said, “What the hell is going on?”

Jacob, or at least the demon possessing him, didn’t say anything. He just flicked his wrist and a bale of Hellfire shot at Burt. 

Iris hesitated, and Burt was incinerated before her eyes, screaming until all the flesh melted away and left only ash and bone and the horrible, heavy scent of burnt flesh.

Tina screamed, and so did everyone else. The volume was so severe that it nearly drowned at the noise of what could only be dragon wings. Not that Iris could hear anything over the sound of her own panic and shame. 

She’d hesitated, and someone had died as a result. 

It couldn’t happen again. 

Jacob began to palm another ball of Hellfire, and Iris charged at him. She channeled Holy Light into her fists and connected them with his face, punching the demon out of him and toppling him to the ground. 

She lunged for Morgan next, crushing her nose with a glowing fist. The demon rushed out of her immediately, and she stumbled backwards and landed against the blackboard. “Oh fuck, my nose! You broke my nose, you fucking freak! I’ll have to get this fixed now, you stupid fucking faggot!” 

A fresh cloud of acrid black smoke rushed into her, and the black eyes of demonic possession quickly reasserted themselves. 

“You have got to be kidding me!” Iris said. This was just… How… She-

Hellhounds jumped at Iris, and she slid under the one to her left as it pounced, grabbing its belly with glowing white hands and throwing it at its counterpart on her right. Her arms began to shake as the transformative magic worked itself through her, stripping her of testosterone and masculinity. She could feel her strength failing, her bones condensing, her body itself changing the more and more of her power she used. 

Her classmates were busy climbing out the windows and running away, thank God. That just left her as the sole line of defense. Less good. She ducked under a bale of Hellfire that had incinerated her teacher’s desk.

Perfect. 

The demon possessing Evan charged at Iris, and she jumped back behind the ashen remains of the desk. She summoned the Pink Light of Restoration, and the desk reformed as Evan slammed into it. The wind was knocked out of him, and Iris punched the demon out of him. Brimstone’s foul odor hung richly in the air, and smoke filtered in from outside. 

Both Hellhounds were down, broken and bleeding on the floor like the rabid coyotes they may as well have been. Iris thought back to that day where Nicole had saved her, the very first time she’d ever done that, on their hunting trip years ago. She crossed herself and began muttering an ‘Our Father’ under her breath. 

Where the fuck did Morgan go? 

No, no, that didn’t matter- she needed to get to Monica, to Mom, to Mark. She had to keep them safe. 

Evan and Jacob groaned on the floor, the linoleum spotted with crimson stains amidst the ash and linoleum. “You two assholes okay?” Iris asked. 

“Yeah, I think so,” Evan said. “You don’t hit as hard as you used to, so that helps. Also, what the fuck, Zack- you have superpowers?”

“I do,” Iris said. “And my name’s not Zack. It’s Iris.”

“What?” Evan said, eyes narrowing. “You’re one of those- ewww, that’s disgusting, I can’t believe I let you touch me-”

A whirl of black smoke rushed into, but Iris punched him again with her glowing fist, hard as she possibly could, and the demon was exorcized. Evan groaned with agony as he clutched his jaw, a molar on the ground as blood poured out of the gap. 

“You got anything to say?” Iris glared at Jacob. 

“No sir!” Jacob whined. 

Iris raised an eyebrow. 

“Ma’am!” Jacob amended. 

“Better,” Iris said. “Get this moron out of here, I have to go save some people I actually like.”

Jacob nodded furiously and yanked Evan from the floor as Iris ran out of the room. Her chest ached, and her legs were sore, and her head throbbed. Any more of this and she’d…

She’d…

No, no time for that right now. Had to focus. 

The hall was a tunnel of screams as possessed students ran about starting fires. At the end of the hall stood Monica, Morgan’s hands around her throat.

 Iris didn’t hesitate. She charged forward, the Lord’s light singing from deep within her soul. She heard God’s song of love and strength and redemption over all the noise, the screaming, the burning, the wings of dragons and the shrill cries of demons. Hot pink light engulfed her, and her spine compressed, and her organs shifted. The world became bigger as her skin tightened and her bones reduced, and her shoulders compacted, and her spine curved. The scents became sharper and louder, as if her nose were coming fully online for the first time ever; the sulfurous stench and smoky odor curdled inside her, and she forced herself to keep going so she wouldn’t stop and throw up. Her clothes changed into a hot pink dress, and her hair itched as it poured out longer and longer. The shade lightened before her eyes, losing almost all color before settling on a platinum blonde shade as the witch’s hat appeared on her head. Her face breathed a sigh of relief as it melted into a feminine shape, and her skin softened and parts of her expanded and other parts shrunk away into nothing. 

A broomstick appeared, and, operating purely on instinct, she climbed on top of it and took flight. The ground fell away, the wind bent around her as she flew as fast as she could. Adrenaline and endorphins and pure fucking elation carried through the hallway of terrors, toward the sister she needed to save. She jumped off the broom just as it collided with Morgan’s stomach, knocking the wind from her and yanking her hands free of Monica’s neck. 

Iris re-summoned her broom and pulled Monica onto it with her, and together the two sisters flew down the hall until they reached their mother’s classroom. 

Mom was in the middle of mix martial arts matched with Principle Rylance, who was clearly possessed. Mom’s students, including Mark, were all behind her, Mark helping guide students out the window. 

Mom gaped when she saw Iris and Monica, and she took a haymaker to the face, but Iris sped over quickly and exorcized the demon inside the principle. Dr. Rylance collapsed gasping on the floor. 

“Are you okay?” Iris and Mom said at the same time. They laughed nervously, then Mom hugged her. Iris wanted to cry, from the joy she felt at her family being safe, from her body having… Changed so much. Even in the midst of all this horror, some things were right. 

Mom hugged Monica next, but when Monica opened her mouth, only a dull, painful croak came out. 

Iris’ eyes bulged wide with terror as Monica began crying silently. “That bitch Morgan- she must have hurt your vocal cords,” Iris said, fists balled. 

Monica’s head dropped, and she nodded solemnly. 

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Iris said. “We’ll get you to Nicole, she’ll fix you right up. I promise.”

“Absolutely. Now, come on,” Mom said. “Let’s get everyone out of here, and we can regroup.”

That was when the roof was torn straight off the ceiling, and above them hovered a cyclops riding a dragon. 

Iris’ jaw dropped as she took in the sight. But she grinded her teeth, and she channeled her power into the building. The roof reformed as the dragon reached its claw inside and severed it, leaving only a scaly mandible dropping into the classroom. 

Mark rushed over to them, along with the other students. And everyone was looking at Iris. 

She took a deep breath, then got on her broomstick. “Everyone follow me! We’re getting out of here!”

***

Heather stood on her hands inside her girlfriend’s parents’ living room, Damian and Tim playing Street Fighter on the television in front of her while Debbi and Jason helped out Mrs. Donahue in the kitchen. Her phone was on the floor directly in front of her, and she kept waiting for it to go off. 

Cass and Matt were supposed to be here by now. Something was wrong. Something had to be wrong. Something was always wrong. There was no way in hell they were having a normal Thanksgiving, not when they were right in the thick of things. 

Richard walked past the periphery of her vision. “You guys need any help?” he said to his mother and siblings. 

“No, we’re all good, Richard,” Mrs. Donahue said. 

“I told you guys, I want to go by Dick. Dick Donahue. I think it’s got a great punch to it.”

“We’re not calling you that,” Debbi and Mrs. Donahue said flatly and in unison. 

“Y’all are no fun,” Richard said. 

“We’re plenty fun, we’re just not indulging your corny joke, bro,” Jason said. 

Heather chuckled. Maybe things would be fine. 

The doorbell rang, and Heather cartwheeled to her feet and did some jazz hands. Richard applauded, and Heather did a mock bow. “Thank you, Dick,” Heather said with a smug smile. 

Dick offered her a firm handshake, which Heather returned. “See, Heather’s fun. Y’all should take notes.”

The doorbell rang again. 

“Could somebody get that?” Mrs. Donahue asked. “It’s probably just Cass- she’s always losing her keys.”

Heather cocked her head towards the door, and Dick followed her. They opened the door, only to find Astra on the other side. 

“Hi,” Astra said. “Hope I’m not too late to help with dinner.”

***

A thousand words wanted to tumble out of Monica’s mouth, but they died in her throat before she could say any of them. She balled her fists, trying to concentrate on moving forward, trying not to focus on the pain and the anguish. Everything would be fine, so long as they could all get out of here in one piece. 

Iris exorcized demon after demon as she cleared the way for Monica and the others to get out of the school. Her big sister had done it- fully transformed, fully shed the person she used to be. Monica wanted to beam with pride, bounce up and down and hug her a million times, but this wasn’t the time or the place. She wanted to at least say ‘congratulations,’ but couldn’t even manage that much. 

Their party had expanded to several dozen strong, including the principle and several other teachers. They arrived at the back door, and Iris floated in front of it on her broom. She was shorter than Monica now- that would take getting used to- and her hair had turned a Marilyn Monroe shade of blonde, and her uniform was similar to Nicole’s, only hot pink instead of pastel.

A green flame of envy burned within Monica, but she tried not to let it ignite any more of her. Not the time or the place, not the time or the place. 

“I’ll go first out the door,” Iris said. “I’ll be the distraction. You guys run as fast as you possibly can, get far away from here and call the police, the national guard, everyone.”

“Iris,” Mom said. “I can’t possibly let you do this.”

“Mom,” Iris said. “This isn’t about what you can or can’t let me do. This is about what everyone needs to do. I know you… You’ve sacrificed a lot for our family. And I love you for that, among other things. Right now… It’s time for me to give something back.”

Mom embraced her, and Monica, through her anguished tears and hideous self-pity, did the same. When they broke it off, Mark came up to Iris next and put his hands on her cheeks. 

“How do I look?” Iris said, eyes shining with hope and fear and adoration. 

“Like yourself,” Mark said. “Absolutely beautiful.”

He kissed her, and Monica felt the urge to look away.

Finally, he let her go, and Iris flew out the doors and banked upwards. Mom led the charge across the back parking lot, Monica looking up as she followed close behind, her pounding heart a hideous rhythm underscoring everything. 

Monica saw her sister flying into the flaming maw of a dragon and dodging only at the last possible second; she wanted to cry out but couldn’t. 

Monica saw the jet of fire rushing towards them all on the ground; she wanted to scream, but the fear was left to rot and fester inside her. 

She saw a flash of pastel pink light streak across the sky and land in front of them, followed by a massive wall of the Pink forming over the crowd and absorbing all the fire. 

Monica wanted to shout a song of pure joy and relief as Nicole floated in front of them, arms outstretched as white and pink energy exuded off of her. A yellow streak flew overhead, joining Iris in the aerial battle above. 

“Everyone okay?” Nicole said as she turned her head back and smiled at them all.

Finally, Monica let herself cry; even if no noise came out, the warm tears streaming down her face reminded her she was still alive.