It's not like in the cartoons where you wake up and you're instantly flush with adrenaline.
My struggle to consciousness was groggy, slow, and plodding. I was barely able to register the dim lighting overhead, or the muffled sounds that seemed to be coming from every direction at once. I was distantly aware that I should be panicking, screaming for help, but I could barely muster the presence of mind to think. Over time, the sensation lessened. I got a hold on what it was like to be awake, and registered where I was.
I was alone in a room.
It was bare. The walls were nondescript, covered in an absolute minimum of decor. The light overhead was a harsh, aesthetically ugly yellow, and the carpet was clean, yet shaggy. The bed I was laying on was surprisingly soft, with clean sheets and plenty of pillows.
And yet, something stank about the room.
It was clean, yet filthy. Luxurious, yet cheap. Alarm bells, which frankly were already ringing in my head at a low volume began to ring-a-ding on a slowly rising crescendo of panic. The answer to "where I was" was becoming increasingly obvious as my mind returned to its normal functionality, and yet I was really, really trying to ignore what the letters in my Spaghetti-Os were spelling out for me.
Ooooooo-
I had been kidnapped.
Worse, I had been kidnapped in my civilian identity.
My backpack!
Oh hey, there was that adrenaline! I looked down at my hands… handcuffed together. My eyes scanned around the room left and right, desperately looking for my things, but there was nothing. It was gone. My costume was gone.
Okay, so whoever kidnapped me knew my secret identity. That was bad. Less bad was the fact that I hadn't been hurt yet. Look on the upside. The bright side I mean. Aaaaah!
But… if I was kidnapped in my civilian identity… that meant that whoever kidnapped me didn't want me for my power. I felt a sinking in my stomach as the details all lined up in my mind and I started hyperventilating.
This was bad. This was really really really bad!
Immediately, I went for the pillows, but nope, the pillow cases couldn't be taken off. Why the heck would you have pillow cases you can't take off?!?!
The bed sheet will have to do. I dove into the bed, tearing the comforter off the bed so I could grab the bed sheets and drape them over myself like some budget bed sheet ghost-
"What the hell is going on in here?!"
Barging into the room through its one (suspiciously thick now that I looked at it) door was a man in a red shirt with a green bandana tied around his lower face. He had his hand on his waist on the holster of a pistol, and he glared at me and the absolute mess I made of the bed.
I looked at him, and he looked at me.
I raised my hands over my head, hoping the man would see this and relax his grip on his gun. Maybe this wasn't what it looked like? The man looked back into the hall, glancing left before entering the room pulling the door shut.
Behind him.
Nope!
Roll: 7: https://shantae.fandom.com/wiki/Siren_Soldier
As soon as the man closed the door, I pulled on my power. I did NOT want to be alone in a room with an ABB member who was over a foot taller than me, armed, and clearly did not have my best intentions at heart.
What appeared were four fish-ladies.
One of them had a thick shell with what looked like some kind of fish-mortar hefted over its shoulder, another had a fish-gauntlet on one arm like a mega-buster. One had two carcinogenic swords in each hand, and the last had a trident and a mermaid's lower body.
Each of them appeared behind the man as he approached me. They had sharp teeth, purple skin, hardened portions of red carapace shaped like bikinis, dark purple carapace-like arm and leg guards, and large, predatory yellow eyes.
I shakily raised my arms and pointed behind the man as he approached me.
"What the heck is that?!" I shouted.
The man scoffed.
"Do I look like a fucking idiot to y-"
CLANG!
Thump!
…Well, now you did.
Okay, okay, take stock. The ABB nabbed me off the street out of costume. They had my costume, so they knew I was Henchmistress. That was extremely bad. I was probably…
This was probably a brothel.
Oh, there goes my heart rate. Even just being here made me feel that sickening feeling of violation. It's okay. It's okay Mina, you're not alone. You're never alone. I mentally commanded one of the fish ladies, my siren soldiers, to hug me. She was… kinda fishy, but I wasn't being picky right now.
Okay. Stay Calm. You're not in any danger… okay that's a lie you are pretty explicitly in danger right now. You're in the ABB's hidden lady-house. And-
You're probably not the only one stuck here.
My attention span immediately locked onto that realization. I could escape this place easily enough. A bunch of ABB members with guns were only so good against a constantly spawning army of monsters. But what about the other women here? If I just went out of this room guns blazing, the ABB might be able to grab all their victims and spirit them away.
And yet, the ABB knew I was here. Maybe they had or hadn't searched my bag yet, but eventually, they would realize who they'd kidnapped and try to move their people or deal with me.
This is not calming me down at all!
Okay… what do I do next? The guy didn't see anyone else in the hall, but that didn't mean there was no one out there. If my Sirens left the room and got spotted, they'd sound the alarm. I needed the ABB to be as slow to react as possible so I could save not only myself, but also whoever was here. I absentmindedly ordered one of my Sirens, the one with the swords, to break my handcuffs, which she accomplished after a few swings as I thought over my current predicament.
How to get the attention of other guards on this floor without raising the full alarm?
It meant going out alone.
The thought filled me with dread… but I was never truly alone. I rummaged on the ABB member's belt, finding a ring of keys. I wouldn't have thought real guards would have rings of keys like they do in the movies, but I was going to count my blessings here. I'd have to try them out, but it was better than nothing. I had my Siren soldiers beat on the guy more as I steeled myself. In the cartoons, bad guys stayed down, but I couldn't risk this guy getting up. I probably broke a few bones, but I also broke his walkie talkie thingy and stole his phone. It might come in handy.
While I was at it, I stole the man's bandanna and tied it around my own mouth. I still had a secret identity after all.
With all the preparations made, I sneakily slinked out into the hallway. It looked like a cheap motel, though given the lack of any windows, it was far from something so benign anymore. One end of the hall led to a dead end, so I figured that was a good place to start. I crept as quietly as possible, listening for any possible sound and hearing nothing other than the vents.
Reaching one of the two doors at the end of the hall, I fiddled with the keys agonizingly slowly. The sound of the metal jingling of the lock was deafeningly loud. My hands were clammy and the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up like a phantom would crawl up my spine at any second. I kept expecting someone to shout my name in alarm… but no one came.
Eventually, I found the right key. I opened the door into a room just like mine. I saw a lump under the covers shaking just enough to be visible from the door. Like a kid hiding from a monster. She probably was.
"Hey!" I half shouted, half whispered. No response. Still shaking. Still terrified.
I was going to hurt the ABB. I was going to hurt them a lot. I rushed over to the bed before thinking better of ripping the covers off. I instead lowered my voice.
"Look, please get up, we're escaping!"
The girl peeked her head out from under the covers… and the first thing I noticed was that she was my age, and she looked somewhat familiar. She probably went to Immaculata like I used to. Thankfully, despite her terror, I didn't notice any… signs. She looked at me in fear, but nodded her head and got out of the covers. I wanted to say something to comfort her, but I couldn't think of what to say.
"Are you a cape?"
Oh good, a starting point.
"Yep! You're looking at the glorious and beautiful Henchmistress of Brockton Bay, undercover edition!"
If there was anything being the Henchmistress taught me, it was how to take credit for things you never actually intended. It would probably reassure her somewhat if she knew I was a cape…
Though now that she was up and ready to follow, a pair of her own handcuffs binding her hands, I realized I had no idea what to do with her. She'd need her handcuffs removed, and I had no idea what I was going to see as I went room by room, so I came to a decision.
"Look, can I have your name?"
"...I-.. I'm Michelle."
Was there a Michelle at Immaculata? Probably, though I hadn't thought about all the people in school in a while, and now really wasn't the time to start either.
"Okay Michelle. I'm gonna go free the other people on this floor, I need you to go to the room next to this one and wait inside. There's a passed out ABB member and four fish ladies who will protect you in the meantime, okay?"
"Fish ladies?"
"My minions! I'm called the Henchmistress after all!"
"Okay." She whispered. Okay, now I just have to hope she doesn't freak out when she saw them.
"And stay quiet. I don't know who all has heard us, but I'd like to keep that number at zero."
She smiled unsteadily, but it was at least a smile.
I crept out into the hall, looking back to make sure she was following me. I listened closely, only catching the faint sounds of rustling from behind me as I peeked into the hallway.
Still empty.
I made some hand sign that seemed cool and pointed to the door down the hall. She looked at me nervously, scared to leave my side, but I just gave her a confident smile. Slowly, she crept down the hall and stopped at the door to the room I came from. The door's handle click-clacked as she turned the knob and looked inside and froze.
She looked back to me, pale in the face. I gave her an open mouthed smile and a double thumbs up. Slowly, nervously, she stepped inside and shut the door behind her. I mentally commanded my Sirens to mimic my double thumbs up so she'd know I wasn't lying before moving to the door across the hall.
I got lucky and it opened on the first key.
I stepped inside and-
ACK-!
I felt a chain wrapped around my throat?!
Roll: 9: https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Burning_Beast(Almost indecipherable art yaaaay)
Sight unseen, I summoned. A giant hunk of blazing molten rock appeared in the room. I felt the person behind me stiffen and took the chance to duck out from the chain, turn around, and-
It was another woman, scared out of her wits at the giant inferno golem I'd summoned.
"Are you a new ABB cape?" the woman asked, the fight leaving her as she looked at my magma monster as it set the carpet on fire. I looked around for any fire alarms, and thankfully there weren't any. I guess the ABB didn't want an automatic alarm like that in a building where they were trafficking humans. The fire department wasn't in their pocket, and I was guessing they would rather any evidence get burned than get rescued.
Still, this was bad. A giant fire golem would set the building on fire. And fire meant smoke. And smoke meant we were running on a timer now.
So I guess I had to hurry the heck up.
"I'm Henchmistress. I'm busting you all out! Do you wanna help?"
Thankfully, the woman seemed to be made of sterner stuff than me. She instantly locked in.
"What do you need me to do?"
"I can summon monsters and stuff, but I… I can't focus on fighting and commanding my minions while also wrangling the victims. Could you help, um…?"
"Margaret. I'll do what I can."
My Burning Beast rumbled. The fire was spreading, already climbing up the bedsheets and spreading over the carpet. I briefly considered dismissing it, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought about how useful it would be. The burning beast was made out of fire and molten rock. Sure, it was big and unwieldy, but there was effectively nothing a standard ABB member could do to this thing without grenades or a massive amount of firepower.
That, and maybe burning down the building could actually help.
If the building caught on fire, that would attract attention. Heroic attention. And good heavens, was I going to need heroic help to get these ladies out of here…
"Alright, there's one more room on this floor. Follow me."
Leaving the Burning Beast behind, I walked into the hallway just in time to see two ABB members coming down the stairs at the other end of the hallway. As soon as they saw me, they raised their guns at us and started shouting at us in a language I didn't understand.
I put my hands above my head. Summoning now would be stupid. If I got something that wasn't bullet immune, I could die. Instead, I got on my knees like a criminal on a cop show and waited for them to get close. Margaret followed my lead behind me, and I got really worried she would be freaking out harder than me, but I didn't dare turn around to check.
One of them said something on their radio, not much I could do about that since I was already about to burn the building down. One of them approached while the other stayed on the stairs, gun trained on the hallway.
I sent a mental command.
As soon as the ABB member stepped past the door to my room, the Siren Squad burst out. The Sword Siren clawed the gun out the ABB member's hands while the Mortar Sired jumped in front of her friend, hard shell faced towards the man on the stairs. Gunner Siren poked her gun around the corner and shot a spine at the ABB member on the stairs. It slammed directly into the man's thigh, causing him to let out a shout of pain and distracted him enough for the Trident Siren to slide out of the room and charge.
Realizing his predicament, the man tried to raise his gun knowing he couldn't escape, but by keeping still to get a better shot at the approaching mermaid, he left himself open to another shot from the Gunner Siren. He was a sitting duck for the second shot, which impaled his hand and pinned it to the wall with another scream.
Trident Siren made it into melee and brained him with the trident, knocking him out cold.
Well, so much for going quiet.
I had Sword Siren cleave the handle off the final door after she was finished with the last thug and pointed for Margaret to go inside as I had Siren Squad pull the latest two men into the room and rough them up a bit for good measure, breaking their walkie talkies so they couldn't communicate if they woke up.
Michelle came out of the room, and Margaret came out with another woman who looked… a lot less vivacious. Her eyes were dead, and her movements were stiff and jerky.
The ABB were going to pay for this!
"Okay, stick together, and stay behind my minions. They can take a hit, we can't."
They nodded.
And that was really it.
I had my burning beast lead the way. The ABB upstairs had to know there was something wrong going on downstairs. That likely meant guns. Only my burning beast could take that kind of attack, and it might trick the ABB into thinking someone had triggered and become a changer or something.
Play stupid torture games, win angry cape prizes.
My Siren Squad followed behind. They clearly weren't comfortable with the extra hot air that the fire in the room was building up, but none of us were particularly comfortable in this situation. The burning beast barely fit up the stairs, but making it around the bend on the way up, a hail of gunfire rained down. Shouts rang out as I felt my burning beast get chipped. I flinched back and the loud banging of gunfire, even knowing I wasn't in the line of fire.
Guns were scary.
Apparently the beast wasn't as sturdy as it looked, as bits of molten rock flaked off with each shot. Michelle shook as Margaret wrapped an arm around her. I kept my mind on the fight. My burning beast was frightening, but it wasn't tough. We were trapped, and despite its bulk, it likely wouldn't make it up the stairs with all the gunfire raining down on it.
What else did I have to work with?
Roll: 6: https://ccsakura.fandom.com/wiki/The_Mist(I was waiting to roll one of these!)
What appeared in my hand was a card. It featured a regal elf lady with a magatama looking thingy on her forehead. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and the rest of her body was obscured by her flowing locks of hair.
Instinctively, I knew what to say next. I smiled.
"Creation of Clow! Lend your power to me! Mist Card!"
The card glowed, and almost launching forth from the card I held between my fingers was a tornado of yellow mist. I could tell it didn't appreciate the heat of the fire building at the end of the hall, but it wouldn't have to stay down here long. I gave a mental command and The Mist flowed up the stairs. Too focused on gunning down the burning beast, the ABB members didn't know what to do when the smoke seemed to rush at them.
Someone shouted, yet the bullets didn't stop. I couldn't see what they were doing, but they were coordinated enough that they trusted each other enough to not get friendly fire in the fog.
But the bullets stopped anyways.
The Mist Clow Card could eat through almost any material, guns included. Without much left for it to do, I dismissed my burning beast and ordered my Sirens up the stairs. Without the ability to fight back, the assembled men were sitting ducks for the stronger, faster, more well armed Sirens.
In no danger, I peeked up.
My Sirens were pummelling the ever loving tar out of the ABB members on the ground. There were more doors down the hall, and no open windows.
Well, they knew we were here now, so I had to move fast. I had the Mist flow through one door and ordered it to attack any ABB members it found inside, as I had my sirens prepare to breach another room, I summoned more backup to speed up the process.
Roll: 7: https://shovelknight.fandom.com/wiki/Grubella_the_Gorbulent (The wiki image does not do justice to how massive this thing is)
Nothing appeared before me. I was confused for a moment, since most of what I'd summoned showed up next to me, when one of the doors burst open further down the hall. Several ABB members inside rushed out into the hallway.
Thankfully, they didn't seem to be focusing on what was going on, instead looking back into the room with alarm. I ducked around the corner, commanding my Sirens to open fire. Taking the chance while I had them caught off guard, I had the Mortar Siren launch an attack with the Gunner Siren as support. The hardened shell projectile hit one man square in the back before exploding into a shrapnel of carapace-like needles.
Hit at unexpectedly odd angles, the ABB members all fell and stumbled. The Trident Siren and Sword Siren rushed in under the cover of The Mist, and in moments, the rest of this contingent had fallen. I had the Sirens beat them down even harder as I called them back to check the rooms one by one with The Mist creeping through the doors, but there was no one else. The floor seemed to be storage closets, break rooms, and other stuff.
Including several firearms.
Oh god. Actual guns. I mean, actual guns that weren't shooting at me.
Oh god there were people shooting at me.
Compartmentalize it. One thing at a time!
Making it to the room the Guards had busted out of, it was immediately clear why they'd run. This was the ground floor… I hoped, and looking outside the window was the biggest bug I'd ever seen. A truly enormous specimen made of 80% abdomen, and the ugliest closeup of a giant ant you'd ever seen... with a cute little crown growing out of its head. It had some bullet holes in its carapace, but otherwise looked unharmed.
It stared in through the windows of what looked like an office lobby. If I hadn't literally come from the torture basement, I would have no idea this wasn't some regular business office. There were some other rooms, a set of stairs, and a supply closet. The rest of the floor was clear unless someone was hiding.
As soon as I gave the all clear for Margaret to move up, she came up to me.
"Find anything useful?"
"Oh! U-Uh, there were some guns in that room over there?"
Margaret turned to Michelle and the empty looking woman.
"Either of you know how to handle a gun?"
Judging by their panicked expressions, they did not.
"Alright. I'll show you real quick, but don't shoot unless absolutely necessary, got it?"
While Margaret took the women to the storage room, I couldn't help but feel a little… inadequate. This is one of the reasons I couldn't be a hero. I'm just… not the charismatic type. At least, not in the heroic way. I don't have that kind of confidence, I just have a mask, and right now? I don't even have that.
I felt naked without my Henchmistress costume.
And it wasn't here either. I'd looked, and there was nothing. I had my Sirens cover the only set of stairs while I panicked again. How the flip was I going to get out of this? Where the heck could I take the girls?
We… we couldn't really leave the building… we needed to call for help. We could move through the building, but the brothel was almost certainly in ABB territory, and they knew there was a cape in here if their behavior was any indication. Even if a non cape woman walked out, the ABB would shoot to kill, and even with The Mist, they would be spread out and taking cover. Unless I knew where they all were ahead of time, I couldn't stop them from killing someone...
Absentmindedly, I had The Mist spread out, partially holding back the smoke rising from downstairs while spreading from one end of the hallway to the other at the base of the next set of stairs. It was spread thin and fizzly, but it held for now. I commanded Grubella to fly in the air, which she did to the beat of intensely strong insectoid wings on her back, and let out a scream. And Scream Grubella did.
You know, I remember looking up online that Bugs breathed through their skin, since they didn't have lungs the way mammals do. Maybe I was misremembering, because for a thing without lungs, Grubella sure could SCREAM! The horrible screech echoed through the streets, rattling the glass on the building and causing Michelle to drop to her knees in terror.
"W-W-What was that?!"
"I summoned a giant bug. She's going to draw the heroes in."
"You're going to draw the entire ABB here you idiot!" Margaret shouted.
As if mocking me, I heard the sound of gunfire outside. Michelle paled.
"T-They already knew we were here! They have the walkie talkies! But now the PRT is on the way!" I said, defending my position as I commanded Grubella to knock her bulbous abdomen on the side of the building.
Margaret didn't look mollified by my argument, but she did accept it.
"Also, we should get to the break room. And out of the line of fire."
CRASH!
Not needing any further prompting, the girls and I hid inside of the break room while I kept an eye on the stairs up the building. Only one set of stairs seemed like a safety hazard, but this place wasn't built with anyone's safety in mind. Fewer ways out for the people upstairs meant fewer ways for their victims to escape or hide, but the same was now true for the captors, and with Grubella seemingly attacking the building and the smoke rising from the fire in the basement... I could smoke them out.
CRASH!!
The Mist card covered the ground floor of the stairs, pulling its shaky form back from the basement stairs and letting the smoke rise as I had my Sirens hide under the stairway. Margaret explained to the two girls how to fire their guns and explained gun safety as I kept my eyes on the prize. If there was a guard upstairs, they would doubtlessly be coming any second now…
I heard more gunfire from outside. Were they seriously trying to shoot my giant insect queen? Thankfully, most of its hide was well armored, and with how wildly Grubella was swinging her abdomen, getting a clean shot was difficult. They were bringing guns to a Kaiju fight.
Unfortunately, the gunfire wasn't coming from above us, which meant that was a different group of ABB-
There!
Two ABB members were peeking the corner of the stairs… and the second one was starting to peek the stairs. Thinking fast before he could spot my Sirens under the stairs, I had the mist swirl loudly at the end of the hall.
Come on, loud noise! Look at the loud noise!
Unfortunately for me, the man's training and discipline held. The Mist obscured their forms somewhat, but they'd been spotted. Without knowing if they had captives they were bringing down, I couldn't carelessly fire the Mortar, so I tried to make the best of a bad situation.
The Mist rushed over the two men at the bottom of the stairs, but there wasn't much space to maneuver, and the men fired shots from their guns into the Sirens I'd accidentally trapped in the corner. I felt Gunner Siren and Sword Siren go down to the gunfire before their guns fell apart. Trident Siren couldn't get up the stairs as quickly as she could over a flat surface though, and as Mortar Siren backed up the stairs to give her cover, ABB members from out of sight shot at her and Trident Siren as they attempted to breach up the stairs.
Commanding The Mist to target their weapons, one of the ABB members shouted something and the men began to rush downstairs… where without The Mist obscuring me, my head poking out of the door was clearly visible.
Roll: 18: https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Ariel
CRASH!!!
Dust fell from the ceiling as the two sprinted down the hallway through the fog like suicidal idiots! What if this fog melted flesh or something?!
I panic summoned, calling forth an androgynous pink fairy… guy, I think? One of the guys thought fast, ripping a painting off the wall and chucking it at my fairy, and to his credit the painting smacked Ariel as his friend ran past.
I ducked my head in, gesturing silently for the girls as I heard a sound of crackling electricity-
The door jerked open, and an angry Asian man in his thirties barged in.
BANGBANGBANGBANG!
I put my hands over my ears as the man fell forward in his momentum. Several splotches of red appeared on the man's green shirt as he collapsed bonelessly to the ground, unmoving.
Oh god, she just shot him. The girl whose name I didn't know just killed someone. Michelle was freaking out. I was freaking out! This was way more serious than Cricket at the store. This was- I don't belong here. I can't do this-! I can't-
"Henchgirl, breathe!"
Margaret grabbed my shoulders and shook me back and forth. I looked into her eyes.
"Look, we're all freaking out, but you of all people have to keep your head in the game!"
"I- I-"
CRASH!!!!
"No one's getting out of here without you, focus!"
Focus… Focus… I nodded my head and stepped over the- the guy. Right. There were other guys. If they got women out because I was too busy freaking out… how would I forgive myself? What would mom think?
She'd forgive me, but I wouldn't.
I poked my head out, and my face paled. There were a lot more men, and it wasn't just men. Women and girls in handcuffs being roughly dragged through the hall to the front entrance. If I lost line of sight of them, it wasn't sure I'd be able to get them all to safety. Ariel was nowhere to be seen. Did he die and I didn't even notice?!
Power!
Roll: 14: https://hearthstone.wiki.gg/wiki/Restless_Mummy
I had Grubella fly around towards the entrance just in case as I had The Mist get to work on the metals they had on them, both their guns and their handcuffs.
The Mist rose and covered them. Instead of the disciplined duo that had led the charge downstairs, these guys had much less of it overall. Most of them panicked and started firing shots down the hall. I had no choice but to duck my head back in as a freakishly tall mummy of all things appeared.
"No tomb can hold me!"
It was alarmingly fast for a dead guy. It charged the unprepared first guy and dove him like a zombie, tearing its rotted teeth into the guy's arm. The men not hauling the women opened fire, littering my poor mummy with bullets and causing it to collapse on the guy.
And like idiots in a Zombie movie, they tried pushing it off, thinking it was really dead.
It reared back up, pulling another man down and tearing into his neck. The man screamed. The women were screaming. Bullets were firing. I was panicking. One man swung a baseball bat hard enough to knock my mummy's head off…
CRASH!!!!
But with The Mist card hiding my location and dissolving their guns, this was a battle of attrition they couldn't win. One of them must have realized this, attempting to corral the women towards the entrance.
Roll: 6: https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Solid_Castle
Blocking the way out, a tall castle-rock thing appeared, and I knew that avenue was cut off from them. It's eyes glowed and a torrent of fire shot out from the tiny canons poking out of its side. Without firearms, the men had to pull back.
There was an unfortunate casualty though.
The Mist, apparently, did not like fire. Bits of it seemed to shrink back in pain and fade away, and I freaked. I pulled the mist away from the door, enveloping the women in the hopes of helping them slip away while I focused on what I could do…
No, the Solid Castle wasn't right for the job. It couldn't pursue given it had to be tipped over to even fit inside. I needed something that could give chase! And the fire and poison attacks it had would hurt the women.
I pulled on my power again.
Roll: 10: https://plantsvszombies.fandom.com/wiki/Baron_von_Bats
Summon Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IifLm6vqscY
I felt something straining as the freaky zombie in the foppish outfit appeared in The Mist. My power apparently didn't think this situation warranted four active summons. Fine! I dismissed the Solid Castle as my Zombie lurched forwards… and freakin teleported.
I cleared the fog just so I could get a better view of the action as I commanded Baron von Bats to beat up the ABB members. I didn't want him making any mistakes.
And boy did he not.
As soon as he appeared, people started screaming. He smashed his bat staff onto one ABB member's head, lurched forward to grab another one with his undead strength and hurled him into the wall.
With their attention firmly on Baron von Bats, the handcuffs had finally been eaten through. One of the women, a thin black girl, pushed the man in front of her directly at Baron von Bats, and with a twirl of his staff, a purple laser beam speared through his midsection and into another guy behind him.
CRASH!!!!!
The ABB members were in a full blown rout. There was too much confusion going on in the hallway, but the women were freaking out. They needed some reassurance.
With the threat of gunfire gone, I stepped out into the hallway, Margaret and Michelle following me with great hesitation.
"Baron von Bats!" I said, hamming it up as best I could without my costume. "Show these miscreants what happens when they mess with a lady!"
Baron von Bats bowed before his body split into a swarm of bats that immediately began biting the men that were still standing. One of the men, identifying the master, made a mad dash for me, but I held my ground. Michelle raised her gun, but before she could fire, the bats all coalesced in front of me, reforming into Baron von Bats. The man didn't slow down, and angry expression on his face as he attempted to tackle the undead.
He may as well have run into a brick wall.
Baron von Bats caught the man in his grip, turned his head to the side, and sunk his fangs into the man's neck. The ABB member's face paled for multiple different reasons as Baron von Bats had his fill before dropping his barely still living body to the floor.
He teleported again without a thought as the women, now outnumbering the men who were left, fought them desperately. One of the men had thought to make a break for the door, only to go ashen in the face as he opened it and saw Grubella's pulsating abdomen from the now shattered glass of the building.
Baron von Bats materialized behind him just to chop him in the neck before moving on to helping the rest of the women.
I strode forward, my three impromptu flunkies trailing behind me as Baron von Bats cleaned up the rest of the trash. The women were freaking out, even with me there to assure them that my Zombie Vampire wouldn't hurt them.
What do I say? How do I help these women? Is this all of them? Are there-
"Is there anyone else upstairs?" Margaret asked. One of the women, a gaunt looking redhead, shrugged her shoulders.
"We're not leaving anyone behind!" I shouted.
"Like hell we are, I'm getting the FUCK out of here!"
"Use your brain! We're in the middle of ABB territory! Where the hell would we even run?!" The last woman from downstairs shouted.
"They ain't got their eye out for every bitch on the street."
"And how many of them know our faces?!" One of the redhead's compatriots shouted.
I stood there feeling like a bystander.
CRASH!!!!!
"...and I am NOT staying here when this building is gonna come down any second!"
"Oh, uh, that's mine. I'll tell her to stop." I interjected, feeling out of place.
"Whaddya mean it's yours?"
"I'm the Henchmistress!"
"Never heard of you."
"I'm in the news!"
"...girl, we don't get news." The woman said gravely. "We don't get anything, and I'm not sitting here and waiting for them to make us SLAVES again!"
"Back the FUCK off!" Margaret shouted. "We need her! She's saving our asses, don't lay into her!"
"Fuck… Fuck we're so fucked… By the time we're done checking they'll have this whole place surrounded if they don't already… Fuck!!!"
"I… It's okay! I can check real fast! Bats, can you uh, go bats and check for any girls upstairs?"
Bron von Bats bowed, before dispersing into a swarm of bats that all flowed upstairs. I mentally told him to check anywhere that someone might be hiding, like under a bed or inside of a supply closet.
"And now what, you leave us defenseless?"
"I'm… I'm working on it okay…"
"We're not defenseless." Michelle said. "They've got guns, we're using them, just stay out of the mist."
"Yeah, they're trained, and we're not. You're not. We can't even steal their guns cuz they all fucking dusted." Another woman shouted.
Oh god, this was a disaster. Everyone was freaking out, I had a minimum number of summons to work with cuz I needed to keep Grubella to attract Protectorate attention, and I needed The Mist to dissolve the guns… though wait, why did The Mist feel so weak right now? There wasn't any…
Fire!
I turned, parting The Mist to look at the stairs to the basement, and oh man, there was fire. There was smoke. And The Mist was barely holding together.
And just like that, The Mist winked out. The card I had kept crinkled in my grip faded away into motes of light, and there went my gun-dissolving indestructible smokescreen, all because I forgot about the fire I'd started.
Oh. And this building doesn't have windows. Not real ones anyways. Setting that fire downstairs was going to smoke us out…
Wait, what about the guys I left down there?
Don't freak out. Don't freak out! They need you. They need you now more than ever. You can freak out when it's all over.
BOOM!
Wait… Boom?
BOOM!
I heard Grubella shriek from outside.
BOOM!
She was taking damage! If she went down, the Heroes might not know where to look for us! Thinking fast, I sent her an order: fly in the direction of the PRT HQ, and if she spots a hero, bring them here.
As Grubella flew away, I felt her stop taking damage… and then someone shouted.
"It's Oni Lee!"
And she was right! That's what the explosions were! He was suicide bombing Grubella! Which meant he was about to charge in… with us! And if the building had no windows…
We were stuck!
"Look, I'll think of something, but you guys have to hide! If Oni Lee finds you, he might kill you!"
"I'm getting the hell out of here, I'm not stayin!" Redhead replied.
"We're all getting out of here, bitch!" Margaret shouted.
"Okay! Uh, I have a plan! I'll bait Oni Lee to chase me with my summons and lead him upstairs, and you'll escape out the front door. Baron von Bats will escort you and take out any guards…"
"What about you?" Michelle asked.
"I'll manage." I lied. "I'm the Henchmistress. Oni Lee doesn't have anything on me."
I wanted them to push back, but the women readily agreed. They were just as scared as I was, if not moreso. Worse, if I just hadn't decided setting a fire was a good idea, we could hold out until the Protectorate arrived. We didn't know how long we had before Oni Lee came in, but there were only so many ways he actually could since the brothel didn't have windows on this floor, and probably didn't on the upper floors either. Baron von Bats returned downstairs in his bat swarm before materializing in front of me.
He held up one finger.
There was still someone up there.
No woman left behind.
"Kid, you okay?" Margaret asked, shaking me by my shoulder.
"I'm… I'm okay."
"No you're not. You sure you don't want to come with us?"
"Please! I'm the girl with the unstoppable army of minions! I'll be fine."
Margaret sighed, set down her stolen gun, and pulled me into a hug.
"Don't die."
…
"I won't."
"Good. If you die we're kinda fucked."
She said it in jest. I really wasn't in a joking mood right now, but it still made me crack a smile.
"I will."
I turned to Baron von Bats.
"Lead the Charge. Play it safe. Don't get yourself shot. If you run out of baddies to brain, listen to Margaret."
"Brains…"
Such a way with words…
Right. I had someone to rescue. I had Baron von Bats disperse into a swarm of bats as he left the front entrance, keeping one inside and ordering him to lead me to the woman still upstairs. I hurried to follow it. I was reminded, once again, of my lack of athleticism as I hurried after the bat and up the stairs, leaving the women in the capable hands of my capable bats.
I exited the stairwell on the second floor and-
Oni Lee.
Standing at the other end of the hall, his demon mask staring at me.
He had come in from above. Which meant he was probably sure his men could keep an eye on the front. Which meant it was Baron von Bats and some barely armed women against what was likely squads of gang members.
I told Baron von Bats to hold nothing back against the ABB as I made straight for the nearest door. Anything short of killing was fair game. Lives were on the line.
"Oni Lee!!!!" I shouted so the people downstairs knew where he was coming from.
The Oni Lee at the end of the hall dissolved into dust.
Roll: 14: https://hearthstone.wiki.gg/wiki/Herbivore_Assistant
The turtle hippie appeared in front of me like a shield, just in time for Oni Lee to reappear behind me and wrap his arms around my neck. I heard the sound of something clip, and the horror stories from the news and the forums flooded my brain.
My Herbivore Assistant, with all its might, forced Oni Lee off my back and pushed me to the floor. Something clattered to the ground at my feet.
A live grenade.
The turtle jumped on top of the grenade as it exploded, instantly killing my summon just as the Oni Lee behind me turned to ash.
Roll: 15: https://totalwarwarhammer.fandom.com/wiki/Red_Crested_Skinks
A swarm of three lizards appeared around me with oversized hammers in their lanky grips. That didn't stop the Oni Lee that appeared above me from landing on me, pinning me to the ground as he pulled the pins on all of the grenades on his bandolier at once.
The closest Skink reared back like a golfer and crashed his hammer into Oni Lee, sending him flying, but not before he could toss his Bandolier at me.
I had my other two Skinks catch it and sandwich it between their bodies.
BOOOOOM!
I scrambled to my feet and made for the stairs. I couldn't just sit here and wait for Oni Lee to kill me, I had to run! I sent a mental command to Grubella and called her back. Worst case scenario, she could pick me up from the roof and I could escape that way!
Oni Lee appeared before me.
Roll: 4: https://zelda.fandom.com/wiki/User:Madmoblin/Dark_Chuchu
As Oni Lee lunged for me, a dark slime appeared between us, catching him in its sticky body and pulling him in. I wasted no time, running past Oni Lee and straight for the door the bat had flown to. I heard an explosion behind me as I felt my Chuchu die just as I reached the door, my final Red Crested Skink barreling down the hallway after me.
Oni Lee was on my left, throwing a punch right at my face.
Roll: 15: https://totalwarwarhammer.fandom.com/wiki/Brood_Queen
And I felt it connect with my face. My vision went hazy and out of focus as I felt my brain rattle in my skull. Oni Lee grabbed me, whipped out a combat knife, and moved me directly in the path of my Skink, his big weapon now a liability in the hallway.
I lost my composure.
"H-HEEELP!!!"
Oni Lee didn't hesitate. He pressed the knife to the side of my neck, but my Red Crested Skink dove in. He'd dropped his hammer and just dove in with pure strength, grabbing both of Oni Lee's arms.
CRASH!!!
Was that Grubella? Was she back?! Oni Lee looked up in surprise, allowing the Skink the chance to headbutt him… and turn him to dust.
Another bandolier of grenades clinked at my feet.
The Skink grabbed the bandolier and ran down the hallway. I opened the door to the room to use as a shield.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
A hand was on my shoulder.
Roll: 7: https://shantae.fandom.com/wiki/Undead_Knights
Three Skeletons appeared, wearing haggard armor and brandishing rusted swords.
Oni Lee simply pulled the pin on his Bandolier. I ducked into the room and shut the door behind me as the Skeletons spaced themselves out. Line of sight broken, I scanned the room. No one out in the open.
I heard what sounded like an army of footsteps outside as I ran for the bed, lifting up the bed skirt. It was the only place she could be.
And there she was.
Shivering, terrified, tears leaking out of her eyes. A girl maybe even a little younger than me.
She wasn't moving an inch.
Another explosion rocked the hallway.
CRASH!!!!
Not the time, Grubella! I ordered Grubella to stop bashing the side of the building and tried to consider what to say. She was horrified, panicked, traumatized. Again, I found myself coming up short, no idea what to say to get her to come with me.
But I had to try.
"You have to come with me! Oni Lee's outside!"
Nothing. The girl shook her head. She wasn't built for this.
Neither was I.
The door cracked open. Oni Lee looked in as a tide of dog sized spiders attempted to pour over him. He simply stood still, reaching for the string on his bandolier. I had one of the Spider Hatchlings bite down on his hand, but he still pulled the pin as the swarm of arachnids bit into him.
BOOOOOM!
The Oni Lee that appeared behind me didn't waste time. He lunged at me with his knife. Kill the Master.
Roll: 18: https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Nebiros(Wow, now all you need is Belial and you've rolled the whole family)
A pale man covered in body paint and a red cloak appeared, grabbing Oni Lee's hand and twisting it, sending the knife flying. Oni Lee's other hand went to his bandolier again, only for a painted hand to grip his and hold it in place.
An opportunity!
"Come on! Oni Lee's not gonna wait forever!" I shouted, dragging her from under the bed. She was still resisting though! I felt mean doing it, but she was going to get me, and herself, and all the women downstairs killed! I sent a command to the spider hatchlings to have a few crawl under the bed.
Wowie did that do the trick.
The girl scrambled out from under the bed like a bat out of heck, just in time for Oni Lee to dissolve into dust and appear behind Nebiros. He gripped his Bandolier and turned his back to Nebiros before pulling the string, preventing Nebiros from stopping the detonation.
CRASH!!!!!
Nebiros unveiled a puppet from the inside of its cloak, performing a little jig with it as it hung from the strings on his hand, before they both sent their arms out, encasing Oni Lee in a giant block of ice!
Oni Lee stood frozen in the block of ice, but I wasn't taking any chances. I grabbed the girl by the arm and pulled her to the exit. She resisted, because of the giant swarm of giant spiders pouring into the room of course, but I parted the remaining spiders to make way and the girl followed behind me in a panic.
"It's fine! The creepy crawlies are on our side!" I shouted, pulling her out of the room and towards the stairs. Not needing any further convincing, she ran with me and we exhausted ourself making it up to the third floor. We were at the base of the next set of stairs when we heard it.
BOOM!
From behind us. I chanced a look back. The tide of spiders, the smoke from the ground floor, and Oni Lee, staring at the end of the hall as he pulled the pins of his bandolier just in time for the first of the Spiderlings to catch up to him.
No time to lose!
BOOM!!!
I hauled butt up the stairs, the girl following close behind.
CRASH!!!!!
I turned the corner.
Oni Lee.
Roll: 7: https://shantae.fandom.com/wiki/Crab
Giant Crabs.
Their pincers were low, but they could reach his legs.
I kept running.
She kept running.
He chucked the bandolier down at his feet and looked up.
I burst through the door at the top.
The girl ran through. I slammed the door behind us.
BOOM!
I turned around
Oni Lee was right in front of me.
The open night sky. The roof. A giant Spider.
I ordered it to attack… and it stayed still. It stayed still?!?! Where was Grubella?!?! Oni Lee grabbed me by the throat and hauled me physically towards the edge of the roof.
He… he was going to jump off the roof with me under him!
Roll: 15: https://totalwarwarhammer.fandom.com/wiki/Boris_Todbringer_(WH1_%26_WH2) (FUCKING TODDY!)
I felt myself jerked to the side as Oni Lee and I were pushed to the ground. I looked up at my savior to see a bearded man in a suit of armor. His one eye looked down at us sternly as he brandished his sword, and I commanded him to attack Oni Lee and protect me and the girl on the roof.
I looked to the side as Boris Todbringer charged at the man… and saw the girl about my age looking off the side of the roof, a considering look in her eye.
"Don't you dare!" I shouted as I ran and pulled her back from the ledge. I ordered my Brood Queen to assist Boris Todbringer, but it sat still. I called out to Grubella to give me and the girl a lift.
Nothing.
Oni Lee jumped onto the Brood Queen's face. Her pedipalps reached up to pull him off, but they were too slow. In one slick motion, Oni Lee carved open one of the Brood Queen's eyes, pulled the pin off his bandolier, and shoved the entire thing directly inside its eye.
The Brood Queen crawled off the side of the building just in time for the explosion to obliterate its head, causing the summon to fade away. Oni Lee appeared in the middle of the roof, meters away from me, the girl, and Boris Todbringer standing between Oni Lee and us.
And Grubella was nowhere to be seen! What was happening?! Did she get lost? Was it the Brood Queen that was shaking the building?! Did she die? No, she was still alive, but I had no idea where she was. My power didn't come with a GPS!
As I spiralled, Boris spoke up.
"Ulric's teeth! You are a warrior, and yet you lend the fruits of Nuln to a vile, wretched cause!" Boris spat, raising his sword at the cape. "Yours are a kind best wiped from the Empire. Ulric will have your head!"
He charged.
It was the exact wrong thing to do.
Oni Lee appeared before me, but instead of lunging for me, he lunged for her.
Roll: 7: https://shantae.fandom.com/wiki/Jellyfish
The blue jellyfish appeared in front of the girl, but Oni Lee swerved.
It was a feint.
He pushed me into the railing of the roof. Unwilling to die, I grabbed the front of his tactical vest and pulled him down on top of me. I gave an order, and the Jumping Jelly latched onto Oni Lee's mask, preventing him from seeing, but he knew he had me where he wanted me.
He didn't even need to see.
He raised his combat knife.
Boris Todbringer shouted.
I crossed my hands over my chest.
A shadow fell over us.
The knife came down.
CRUNCH!!!
The Jellyfish vanished. I felt a splattering of blood. I opened my eyes. Grubella's maw was chewing bits of Oni Lee's skull. The bloody mass that had once been his head was scooped up as Oni Lee's headless body fell forward, the stump of his neck gushing blood out of it like a school water fountain pouring over me. I was dimly aware of all of this as my mind recoiled at what I was looking at.
Oni Lee's dead body.
I didn't tell Grubella to do that.
I told Grubella not to kill people.
And yet, pressing me into the roof of the ABB brothel, was proof to the contrary. A few moments passed as Grubella chewed on the remnants of his skull, his mask falling to the roof of the building with a thud.
And nothing turned to dust.
I let out an undignified shriek and began hastily, in a complete panic, pushing the body off me.
"Getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!!!"
Boris Todbringer strode over, the clank of his metal boots resounding over the roof as he stopped and unceremoniously kicked Oni Lee off of me. I sat there hyperventilating as he held out a hand.
"Alright, up with you. That's one man, and we've no idea how many more stand between us and freedom."
Not trusting myself to say… anything, I grabbed his hand. He hauled me to my feet as I stared down at the man who just tried to kill me.
I didn't mean to kill him.
"Spare your tears for the man. A talented man he was, but do not weep for your enemies, young lass. He would not have wept for you."
I didn't want to kill anyone.
I reached down and grabbed Oni Lee's red mask. I knew what Boris meant. Oni Lee was a bad person. Objectively. He came to protect this facility, to kill the people who were tearing it down. I didn't disagree that he was a bad man. I didn't even disagree that he might even deserve to die.
But I didn't want to be a killer.
One of the reasons I was the Henchmistress, the humor villain, was so I wouldn't have to hurt anyone. Wouldn't have needed to kill people. Even heroes had to kill people with kill orders.
It wasn't me. Maybe I'm just a softhearted idiot, but I didn't want anyone to get hurt. At all.
I couldn't even be sure. Could I trust my minions not to kill with just an order? Grubella did that against my explicit commands. She was my minion. My power. My responsibility.
If my minions could disobey my orders…
I rushed to the side of the roof, looking down at the street. Several wrecked cars were smoking and burning, crumpled in heaps. Various ABB members lie motionless on the ground. I couldn't tell if they were breathing from this high up. Did I kill them too?!
"Steady yourself. What are you looking for?" Boris asked.
"The women I rescued." I frowned. "I don't see them."
"Perhaps they're long gone already. I see no maidens on the road, just criminals with a few more broken bones than they woke up with dawn."
He was right, of course, but it didn't make me feel any better.
"Besides, you saved her, didn't you?"
I looked back at the girl. Her shivering had died down, but she was still in a panic. Still scared… still here.
"Not yet."
"Aye, not yet. Ye can mourn when the last craven man falls at your feet lass. Till then, nothing left for us but to hop to it."
I didn't know how much more 'until it's over' I had left in me.
The night wasn't quiet either. The sound of flames licked the lower building, the distant sounds of gunfire echoed from probably only a block away…
And the sound of sirens got closer and closer.
From the other side of the street, a woman ran out of a building upon seeing two PRT vans rolling down the far end of the street, raising her hands and waving, letting out a joyous cry. The PRT vans rolled up to the building and stopped. The back doors opened, women poured out from the building they had holed up in.
And things were going to be okay.
But I still had one person to save. I walked over to the girl.
"What's your name?"
The girl looked at me. The messy, uncostumed, covered in blood girl who'd gone out of her way to save her, and her breathing slowed down.
"...J-Jenna."
"Well Jenna, do you wanna go home?"
"...yes." She said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I really do."
"Then let's go. All aboard the Grubella express."
I turned to Grubella, wishing I had another option right now. I mentally commanded her to tilt her head down, and after a delay, she did. I wanted to dismiss her, but with the building on fire, there was no other way down.
"Well, it can't be said that it's a pleasant beast of burden, but it's a beast of burden nonetheless." Boris muttered, walking over and hoisting himself up. Jenna and I followed, and Boris hauled the both of us up onto the insect's back. Before I could give the order, the wings behind us lifted us off, and began to lower us to the ground. The wind buffeted my face, and I instinctively ducked, hoping to avoid getting anything gross in my mouth.
My mouth.
My hands met my face. The bandana I'd stolen had fallen off at some point. I had no idea when. I couldn't even remember it falling off. I panicked as Grubella finally touched down. I shot Toddy a panicked look.
Toddy gave me a subtle nod. He wrapped his arms around both myself and Jenna, hauling us over his shoulders and jumping off of Grubella, walking over to the PRT van as the redhead woman from earlier climbed in. I saw Margaret standing outside, not getting on until the last woman was loaded into the trucks. She laid eyes on me, but before she could speak up, Toddy lifted a hand as though to wave at the PRT troopers.
It was also a silent way of telling Margaret to hold her tongue.
"Good day, men and women of the city. I've got two more for you."
"And you are?" One of the PRT troopers asked, suspicion lacing her voice.
"Boris X Todbringer, Graf of Middenheim, errant servant of the Henchmistress like my lithe and noble steed here."
I mentally commanded Grubella to swallow whatever she had in her mouth…partially because I was scared that Grubella would spit out a piece of Oni Lee's skull, and partly because I was worried that if I dismissed Grubella, the pieces might not disappear with her.
I needed to lie down. Think about anything else.
Thankfully, the swallow added a bit to the humor of Boris's joke, which made him being my minion more believable.
"And where is The Henchmistress?"
"I'm not her keeper." Boris shrugged as he placed Jenna and I down. "She decided not to stick around though. You know how she is."
"Fair enough. You coming with?" One of the PRT troopers asked. I didn't get to hear Boris's answer as I was ushered along. I felt a blanket wrapped around my shoulder as another PRT Trooper led me and Jenna up into the back of the van.
Several women in the van were crying. Michelle was shaking. Everyone was going to make it home okay, so why didn't this feel like a happy ending? Jenna leaned into my side.
Right, she knew I was a cape.
Somehow, I couldn't find it in me to care. I put my arm around her and pulled her close. I didn't want to be alone right now, and neither did she. She just wanted to feel safe. I wasn't a hero, but I could do that for her. Margaret, the two PRT troopers, and Boris stepped into the back of the van, and in no time, the van peeled away.
It was quiet, save for the sobs of relief and the shifting of gear. The women in this van and the next wouldn't be the same. Wouldn't be safe. For all I wanted to help them, safe wasn't something I could give them. They wouldn't be ready to smile for a long while.
Just one more reason I couldn't ever be a real hero.
I held onto Jenna as the van gently rocked on the road. My eyes were heavy, my front was bloody, and my everything hurt.
I wanted Mom and Dad.
"Today."
I looked up at Boris. As did Jenna, and Michelle, and Margaret.
"I can see it in your eyes. How many times each and every one of you asked yourself the question. When will be the day you find freedom?"
He walked to the center of the van.
"I can see those of you who wished and prayed to whatever gods would listen for that day to come. Which of you dreamed only of rescue, and which of you weren't so picky. Who has suffered, bled, and lost for the base desires of craven savages. All of you have asked the question."
His eye watched over all of us.
"Today!" Boris shouted. "Today, you have your answer! Today, the forces of darkness and evil infesting this city have lost a great battle. Today, those who have harmed you lie ested and bruised. Battered and broken! Bloodied and beaten!"
"Criers would tell you of heroes. The great men who wage war against the enemies of mankind, whose names will go down in legends. You are not those men. You are not those heroes. None of us are."
"We are all of us, every brave man and woman aboard this carriage, human. It is not the ordinary man or woman who can shoulder endless burdens. I look at all of you, and I see weakness."
"But more than that, I see strength! Today! Those of you who took up arms with great courage when the chance was given, and fought for your freedom! Those of you who showed kindness, helping those burdened by their fear! And those of you who merely put one foot in front of the other in the face of insurmountable odds!"
"Humanity does not stand today because of its heroes. Humanity stands, because in each and every one of us, one of you, there is someone brave! Someone who needs only the opportunity to stand on their own two feet, and Today! Fate gave you that chance! Today! Humanity stands because we lift each other up until the weakest stand shoulder to shoulder with our strongest, so that each of us can lift ourselves up together!"
"Today! Today, evil met its match! Today, you were victorious. All of you fought to secure your futures, from the smallest grain of courage to the great bounty of heroism. Today, you FOUGHT! Today, you STRUGGLED. And Today! You! WON!!!!"
"Rise, brave women of this city. Cry out to the heavens in triumph! For Today, your shackles are broken!" Boris shouted, lifting his arms to his sides in a gesture or pride. "Is it not the right of the victor to celebrate?! Let Ulric hear you roar!"
Margaret was the first to stand and shout. She wasn't the last. An older woman followed. A Hispanic teenager. An older woman. Michelle. I didn't even realize I was standing until I heard Jenna shout. I felt tempted to cry out myself, but I found it hard to. Looking at all the women smiling and shouting their hearts out, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.
I didn't need to shout, because this was my reward. Women that would get to see their families again. People I'd saved from a terrible situation. Even if I didn't command it, my power had made them smile. Even if just for this one moment, they were empowered. The shouts of triumph and relief came from the heart. They were blaringly loud in the back of this truck, but that didn't stop them.
Boris led them to a united cry, and despite everything that happened, just for this moment…
I felt like a real hero.