Ifrit dodged under the massive blade the Lost was swinging at her, then brought a glowing fist up into his jaw, lifting him off his feet and onto the table
behind him with a crunch of broken bone. Fists still glowing with arcane energies, she spun and nailed another one trying to sneak up on her with a baseball
bat. A moment later, a Pariah was launched across the room with a burst of telekinetic energy, pinning him to the wall.
As Ifrit brushed off her costume and Alice powered down her Talosian bow, the staff and patrons of one of Skyways many homeless shelters looked up from where
they'd taken cover when the Lost had kicked down the door. "Are you okay Miss Donnor?" Alice asked.
"Nothing broken my dear," she smiled, rubbing at a bruise on her check. "You had wonderful timing." Alice smiled, looking relieved.
"And I admit that panic button was a good idea of yours."
"Momma Nene came up with it," she admitted, hugging the woman. "So, did they say what they wanted?"
Miss Donnor rolled her eyes. "The usual I'm afraid," she said. "We're not welcome here, they'd take the people that deserved to be
part of a better world, then they'd break everything." Alice nodded, even as Ifrit scowled.
"How quickly they forget what they were once," she growled as she helped an older man to a table.
Her daughter nodded in agreement, then walked over and picked up the Pariah by his tattered robes. "Oi, wake up," she snapped, eyes flashing with
power. "You're taking a message back to your deformed buddies."
"Message?" the mutant hissed.
"This place, and all those like it, are under the protection of the Legendary and Riot," she said, the fires of psychic power burning in her eyes.
"If you threaten them, make trouble for them, or try and stop anyone from taking the help they offer, I'll know. And I'll find you."
The creature growled at her. "You think you scare me?" he snapped. "Just another hero, enjoying the good life, not knowing what it's like
for the rest of us-" his rant was cut off as Purrfect Archer let go of his robe and pinned him to the wall by thought alone. For a moment, the Lost could
sense her power, the power he'd tossed his humanity away to try and gain.
"I know what it's like all too well," she said in a dangerously calm voice. "I lived on the streets too. I wandered Skyway, the Row, even
Bricks on occasion. I've tasted the cold, the hunger, the fear... You're hardly unique in that horror. But unlike you, I didn't break. I didn't
become a drugged up monster, attacking the people that used to try and help you." A sneer formed on her face. "You used to come here, didn't you?
You took the soup she always had on offer at any hour of the day, the warm mattresses and blankets?" The sneer widened as he flinched. "And you thank
her by threatening her, by hitting her? The Rikti must be so proud of you."
"Shut up," he hissed, trying to pull his eyes away from those burning eyes.
"So when you go back and tell them how you went at betraying the people that committed the crime of showing you compassion, ask them about me," she
said. "Ask them about the little girl that was in the same hell as you. Ask them what I did to their horsemen, to Dra'gon and Ho'Drotz." The
flames died, revealing the eyes behind them and the disgust they radiated. "Then ask yourself if you're not scared of me." She stepped back and
turned away, and the power holding him in place vanished. Gasping, he leaned against a table for support, before looking around the room.
There were nearly two dozen people in the room, and all of them had similar expressions on their faces. Disgust for a traitor. And with Lady of the Peace and
Purrfect Archer present, he wouldn't be able to stop them. Stumbling, he ran for the doors, throwing them open and fleeing into the evening.
Ifrit watched him go, then turned back to her daughter, pulling her into a gentle embrace. "You okay?" she asked softly.
"Yeah... it's just... if things had been different, that might've been me..."
Ifrit shook her head. "Even when you were first touched by the power, you had more self-respect then that," she said, running a hand through the
girls hair. "You could never have been that thing, and you never will." Alice made a soft noise, letting her mother hold her for a long moment,
before breaking the embrace and turning to Miss Donnor.
"I don't suppose you could use an extra set of hands tonight?" she asked with a weak smile.
Laughing, the woman nodded. "You always did insist on helping out." She looked at Ifrit. "Does she still have that habit?"
"Oh yes," the fey laughed. "Still so nervous about accepting charity, even from people that love her and would like to spoil her rotten."
Alice gained a touch of pink to her cheeks as the older women shared a laugh. "You should have seen her squirm the first time I took her out for new
clothes..."
"Mum!"
behind him with a crunch of broken bone. Fists still glowing with arcane energies, she spun and nailed another one trying to sneak up on her with a baseball
bat. A moment later, a Pariah was launched across the room with a burst of telekinetic energy, pinning him to the wall.
As Ifrit brushed off her costume and Alice powered down her Talosian bow, the staff and patrons of one of Skyways many homeless shelters looked up from where
they'd taken cover when the Lost had kicked down the door. "Are you okay Miss Donnor?" Alice asked.
"Nothing broken my dear," she smiled, rubbing at a bruise on her check. "You had wonderful timing." Alice smiled, looking relieved.
"And I admit that panic button was a good idea of yours."
"Momma Nene came up with it," she admitted, hugging the woman. "So, did they say what they wanted?"
Miss Donnor rolled her eyes. "The usual I'm afraid," she said. "We're not welcome here, they'd take the people that deserved to be
part of a better world, then they'd break everything." Alice nodded, even as Ifrit scowled.
"How quickly they forget what they were once," she growled as she helped an older man to a table.
Her daughter nodded in agreement, then walked over and picked up the Pariah by his tattered robes. "Oi, wake up," she snapped, eyes flashing with
power. "You're taking a message back to your deformed buddies."
"Message?" the mutant hissed.
"This place, and all those like it, are under the protection of the Legendary and Riot," she said, the fires of psychic power burning in her eyes.
"If you threaten them, make trouble for them, or try and stop anyone from taking the help they offer, I'll know. And I'll find you."
The creature growled at her. "You think you scare me?" he snapped. "Just another hero, enjoying the good life, not knowing what it's like
for the rest of us-" his rant was cut off as Purrfect Archer let go of his robe and pinned him to the wall by thought alone. For a moment, the Lost could
sense her power, the power he'd tossed his humanity away to try and gain.
"I know what it's like all too well," she said in a dangerously calm voice. "I lived on the streets too. I wandered Skyway, the Row, even
Bricks on occasion. I've tasted the cold, the hunger, the fear... You're hardly unique in that horror. But unlike you, I didn't break. I didn't
become a drugged up monster, attacking the people that used to try and help you." A sneer formed on her face. "You used to come here, didn't you?
You took the soup she always had on offer at any hour of the day, the warm mattresses and blankets?" The sneer widened as he flinched. "And you thank
her by threatening her, by hitting her? The Rikti must be so proud of you."
"Shut up," he hissed, trying to pull his eyes away from those burning eyes.
"So when you go back and tell them how you went at betraying the people that committed the crime of showing you compassion, ask them about me," she
said. "Ask them about the little girl that was in the same hell as you. Ask them what I did to their horsemen, to Dra'gon and Ho'Drotz." The
flames died, revealing the eyes behind them and the disgust they radiated. "Then ask yourself if you're not scared of me." She stepped back and
turned away, and the power holding him in place vanished. Gasping, he leaned against a table for support, before looking around the room.
There were nearly two dozen people in the room, and all of them had similar expressions on their faces. Disgust for a traitor. And with Lady of the Peace and
Purrfect Archer present, he wouldn't be able to stop them. Stumbling, he ran for the doors, throwing them open and fleeing into the evening.
Ifrit watched him go, then turned back to her daughter, pulling her into a gentle embrace. "You okay?" she asked softly.
"Yeah... it's just... if things had been different, that might've been me..."
Ifrit shook her head. "Even when you were first touched by the power, you had more self-respect then that," she said, running a hand through the
girls hair. "You could never have been that thing, and you never will." Alice made a soft noise, letting her mother hold her for a long moment,
before breaking the embrace and turning to Miss Donnor.
"I don't suppose you could use an extra set of hands tonight?" she asked with a weak smile.
Laughing, the woman nodded. "You always did insist on helping out." She looked at Ifrit. "Does she still have that habit?"
"Oh yes," the fey laughed. "Still so nervous about accepting charity, even from people that love her and would like to spoil her rotten."
Alice gained a touch of pink to her cheeks as the older women shared a laugh. "You should have seen her squirm the first time I took her out for new
clothes..."
"Mum!"