As I understand it, the rough guide is that if one wants to be a child's biological parent, one should assume that HRT will make one as sterile as the top of a pebble at noon on Mercury, if one doesn't want to be a child's biological parent, one should assume HRT will leave one so fertile that glancing the general direction of a lump of clay will spontaneously turn it into a baby, and that one should plan accordingly either way.
...Okay, I might have embellished it a bit. But yes, as far as I know, the assumption that HRT is birth control should only be used if one's trying, or expecting to try, to conceive and that'd be a problem.
Ah, yes, that "wonderful", notorious machine, just another lovely addition to the ridiculous and awful airport security theatre that for some reason still exists. I've been fortunate enough to not have to experience them myself; I've not been through airport security since I started HRT some years ago, and Amtrak has remained manifestly un-terroristed despite not forcing passengers to stand in a long line for the pleasure of partially disrobing, disassembling their luggage (which mustn't contain anything as dangerous as a full-size bottle of water, of course!), and stepping into a full-body scanner to be judged by bored and/or powertripping security officers of unknown biases, almost as if the whole rigamarole is a completely unnecessary way of turning tax money into suffering that doesn't even have a good track record of stopping white hats trying to get around it (and not because there haven't been any).
The actual being-up-in-the-air part of flying? I'm fine with it. Even most flights on modern-standards-Boeing planes under the current government's air traffic control can be expected to land at their destinations with the same number of pieces they took off with. What feels like everything else about the modern airline passenger experience? Nope, no thank you! I've seen videos of what are supposedly some of the best first class airline seats in the world, and it looks to me like, at least for what I'm looking for, they lose out to an Amtrak roomette, let alone a bedroom. And-- actually no I could go on for a while, my special interest in trains does not help with keeping this sort of thing concise, and I have a chapter to finish reading and then more things to get done tonight.
(...Modern airport security is just, so stupid, though.)
10ebbor10 said:
Well, at least some confirmation that not everyone in the future is dead.
Everyone is assuming that Riley isn't going to want to do it, when another possibility is that she will immediately jump to completely burning down her current life.
Amara was restless despite her exhaustion, getting up and pacing the room before crashing back down, her dream stop-start snippets that barely got through the first act.
Yeah. Gd, it must be brutal. I can't imagine how much it would weigh on me to have these dreams from the POV of a man, committing some horrible betrayal, every night, forever. And all because you're supposed to be his inheritor or second coming or whatever mystic fated link thing. I'd be shocked if she ever sleeps well.
I hate SV sometimes because the thread structure means I can't give my thoughts on the backlog chapters as I'm reading through them. Ugh.
1. That was really, really hot. I need to figure out how to arrange another meetup with my gf YESTERDAY
2. The mention of "Aurora" hit me like a punch to the face because OH YEAH EVE'S GONE INTO THE FUTURE AND MET HER OWN KIDS
3. The funniest part about the TSA is when the gender they assign you doesn't line up with itself. Like one time I got a chest patdown, but they sent the female TSA agent to do it. Not sure what the logic was there.
4. Goddamnit this is... really good. Really, really good. Kinda marathon'd the entire thing (skipping most of the flashback chapters admittedly) in like two hours and now it's over but I will be keeping an eye out for updates on TSTWL
4. Goddamnit this is... really good. Really, really good. Kinda marathon'd the entire thing (skipping most of the flashback chapters admittedly) in like two hours and now it's over but I will be keeping an eye out for updates on TSTWL
The flashbacks have important context, characterisation, and tell you a bunch of stuff the Prologue doesn't tell you, because just because that bit's got a narrator instead of Eve's POV doesn't mean it's not also unreliable. There are many layers to this story and a lot is hidden in the flashbacks!
Anyway I have now read all of the flashbacks. Which means it is with full authority that I can say, what the hell is up with people in this thread who're going "well Eve and the rest just have to learn to accept that Riley has something else going on in her life" as though she didn't like... abnegate her entire existence for the sake of some random man? Everything I've seen about her is that she was not the type of person to accept domestic motherhood as a lifestyle. I wouldn't be surprised if it was genuine mind control going on. The kind of self-delusion you need to be operating on to be out of the closet as a teenager and then GO BACK INTO IT... yeah. Worrying.
I had a terrible joke pop into my head. Disclaimer, this does not reflect my actual interpretation of Riley's character as presented in this work.
---
Riley solves her life by becoming the deadbeat parent who leaves for a pack of cigarettes.
"No, it's perfect. There's nothing in the way, we're nice and visible, the screen makes a good backdrop," Eve said, smoothing out the little pamphlet they were crowded around. "And we'll have the bay behind us, less chance we get snuck up on."
"The problem is the lights," Brigid muttered. "I'm not sure we'll be well-illuminated there, the lights are supposed to be for the field, right?"
"Nah, the floodlights make the whole stadium feel like daytime, it's crazy," Riley countered. "Trust me."
"This is so stupid," Kimiyo added, her head cradled in her hands.
"Come on, it's not!" Eve pouted. "Prince Blackberry will obviously have cameras again, this is our chance to clear our name!"
"Yeah. And it's what the good guys do," Riley added, stealing a fry off Brigid's plate. "What, we just show up and start throwing punches?"
"Better than letting them know we're coming," Kimiyo said. "Who cares what people think of us; we're saving their lives. That should be enough."
"Public relations is still important," Brigid said, completely oblivious to the cause of her rapidly-dwindling side order. "Regular people don't have a very good idea of what is at stake or who the players are, and the last thing we need is for the police and government to be further compromised by the Dark Queen's agents. If everyone thinks we're the threat, they might hand resources and access to the Princes, or help cover their tracks."
"They're going to do that anyway," Kimiyo grumbled.
"Pretty please, Kimmy? For my birthday?" Eve begged, putting on her best pout. Kimiyo rolled her eyes.
"That's not for eleven whole days. Why don't you get your boyfriend to do it? He seems like the dramatic type."
"Whatever. You're just jealous," Eve countered.
"Am not," Kimiyo snapped, her face flushing instantly. Brigid laughed.
"You sure?"
"Come on, why the hell would she be jealous of Eve's creepy middle-age stalker?" Riley said, shaking her head.
"He's not creepy! Or middle aged," Eve insisted. He might kinda be a stalker a little bit maybe, but, like, in a romantic way.
"How old is he, then?" Riley pressed. Eve's eyes darted back and forth nervously before she shrugged.
"I dunno. Like… maybe… um, twenty-two?" she guessed.
"Oh my God, Eve," Riley gasped, shivering with revulsion. "Like, I don't get what any of you see in dudes in general, but that specifically is super fucked. That's super fucked, right?"
"Obviously," Kimiyo said.
"The police should be involved," Brigid added.
"... well, hold on, fuck no," Riley said, pivoting instantly. "Like, he should stop, but the only thing Eve going to the cops is going to do is let them take advantage of her too."
"The police wouldn't do that," Eve said, utterly aghast. Riley sighed.
"... was she like this before, or is this the 50s brainwashing?" she asked. "My mom made it really clear; the only time you tell cops anything is if you have to file an insurance claim. They're here to stomp on us, not help us, and that goes, like, quadruple here."
"Look, I… guessed? I dunno how old he is! He's got a mask on!" Eve added.
"Wait, he keeps it on?" Riley said, unable to contain a rising chuckle.
"... yes?"
"Like, the whole time? The whole time?" she asked. Eve nodded. "And you're okay with this?"
"I think it's cool," Eve said, shrinking into her seat. Riley nodded, vibrating with barely contained laughter.
"Okay, maybe you freaks are made for each other after all."
"What's that supposed to- oh my GOD, no!" Eve protested. "We haven't, like, no, that's so gross! You're so gross!"
"I don't get it," Brigid said, clearly lost, her eyes flicking between them. "Anyway, we have a job to do, don't we? Where were we?"
"Planning on clearing our name?" Eve said, grasping for the lifeline.
"Was us saving Eve not enough to make the Butterfly Knights good guys?" Kimiyo asked bitterly. Riley had rather brilliantly suggested that Butterfly Sage show up with Eve to explain her return after three weeks, and blame the whole thing on the enemy having kidnapped her, so she wouldn't get in trouble. This had worked, but led both to a rather surreal circumstance of a very grateful, teary-eyed Mrs. Nakamura insisting that Sage at least stay for dinner.
"I dunno, the interviewers keep, like, trying to make me blame you guys," Eve admitted, sighing. "It's still really weird."
"I imagine getting abducted by aliens would be, yes," Brigid agreed, reaching for a fry and frowning at their absence. "Hmm."
"Here, you can have mine," Riley offered generously, pushing her basket toward Brigid with a wink. "I think the plan's solid. Kimiyo, I know it's silly, but if you're going to be gone for like, a month, this might be our last chance to show up as a full group for a while, you know? You're important to that."
Kimiyo's eyes dipped down, but she nodded.
"Okay. Yeah," she agreed. "Will Prince Rose be joining the presentation?"
"I paged him about it?" Eve said. "He always shows."
"Well, maybe he'll miss his bus," Kimiyo muttered, pushing away her basket and peering at the bill. She looked the number over before sighing and turning it around. "Brigid, math this."
"Oh," Brigid said, glancing at it and then holding it up to Eve, who stared at it, her finger playing in the air as she sketched out the long division in the air.
"Six fifty one!" she declared. Brigid nodded proudly.
Everyone began rummaging in their purses, small change piling up on the tablecloth.
"Whoa," Riley said suddenly, head turning to follow the high-pitched screech of an engine. She expected to see a motorbike, but instead there was a sports car in iridescent dark purple, low to the ground, with oddly sculpted curves. The motor hummed and popped like an aggressive lawnmower before cutting out as the door popped open.
"What?" Eve asked, following her sightline. She didn't know a thing about cars.
"Madza RX-8," she said, nodding in mild approval. "Not, like, the fanciest, but it's got a rotary engine-"
"Like an old airplane?" Brigid asked. "Sopwith Camels and the like."
"Like Snoopy?" Eve added.
"No? The fuck?" Riley said. "Who thinks of that? It's this weird, like, pistonless engine, it sorta-"
Eve was no longer listening. She was watching the driver, a Black teenager in a grey sports jacket, who was rushing toward the restaurant in a hurry. He was so busy checking his pager he almost tripped over the steps, flailing for balance. What a dweeb.
Oh God, he looked right at her! He saw her laughing at him! Act normal!
"…it's not as cool as the RX-7, but…"
"Yes, cars!" Eve added, nodding.
"Cars indeed. All I'm saying is, if your boyfriend had a car like that, I might understand. Alright, game time?"
🦋
Ward paused near the stairs behind the scoreboard, her eyes scanning the backlit railing one more time. She glanced up at the little clocktower; nearly one in the morning. This had to be a school night, didn't it?
"They still there?" she whispered. Behind her, Sage held out a white-gloved hand, two black strings were straining over her palm, pointed directly into the stadium. She closed her fingers and adjusted her collar, rolling her neck and running her hands through her hair. The little knots of red string that held her costume together tightened and adjusted themselves, wrinkles and folds in the voluminous sleeves and long red skirt smoothing out.
Behind her, Spark readied her wand, the matrix of diamonds and circuitry on the golden butterfly wings at its end strobing with soft white light. She pulled her hood up over her ginger curls and tugged at one of her stockings. The reactive hexagonal panels that made up the hardened outer layer clicked softly as their links pulled taut in anticipation.
Then, striding up behind with a baseball bat she'd gotten from God-knows-where, Butterfly Heart swaggered into view, watching behind them. The short purple cape rippled in the sea breeze as she stretched out her arms and yawned. Her eyes, which stood out strongly against the smear of black paint around the sockets, flicked up to the stands.
"Great, three Princes," she said. Eve turned and followed her gaze, and there was Prince Rose, standing atop an i-beam on the floating pier next to the stadium. His white cloak billowed, the lights of the buildings on the opposite shore diffusing through it and haloing him in a soft glow.
"Butterfly Knights," he acknowledged, then his eyes met Ward's, and a small smile crept onto his lips. "Ward."
"Prince Rose," Ward responded, nodding. Even though she wasn't looking, she quite clearly saw Sage roll her eyes.
"You know this is a trap, right?" he asked. They nodded.
"That's why we're springing it. You gonna do your waiting in the wings to steal the credit routine, or you actually going to man up and help from the start?" Heart taunted, running her hand along the grain of her stolen bat as if inspecting the grain.
"Heart, come on, that's not fair," Ward said, her face falling.
Prince Rose looked away, silent for a moment.
"I'm under no illusions that I can stand alongside you. You're stronger than I could ever be," he said finally. "I can't do it with you, but I can't do nothing."
Heart chuckled, mocking at first, but a genuine respect creeped in despite herself. "Alright, big guy. Can you still anchor them here so they can't do their disappearing routine?"
"Only one of them, and only if I can get close," he said, breathing hard. "It's Nightshade, isn't it?"
"Friend of yours?" Sage asked bitterly. Prince Rose didn't dignify that with an answer.
"We believe it is, and Prince Blackberry again. The two appear to be working together," Spark explained. "This is likely our best chance to get one or both."
"Hopefully Blackberry, fuck that guy," Heart spat.
"Nightshade will run immediately. He's…" Prince Rose paused, clearly hunting for the word. "Cautious."
"That's vague," Heart said. "Any idea what he's trying to pull?"
"I knew him better than anyone, which is why I know not to try and speak to his plans or motivations," Prince Rose warned.
"And what about Blackberry, did you find out any more about him?" Ward asked.
"He's new. Young," he said. "Recruited within the decade… I think I know who he was before. He's from the city. That's all I know"
The lights of the stadium turned on, all at once, and the Butterfly Knights all glanced reflexively at the sudden white glow. When Ward glanced back, Prince Rose was gone, but she felt his eyes on her, vaguely.
"Alright, let's do this thing," Heart said, clapping her hands together.
🦋
"Do you have somewhere better to be?" Prince Nightshade drawled, flicking his hair back and smiling. "They'll be here."
"This is a waste of time. Her Majesty is annoyed with us already,' Prince Blackberry responded, flicking his phone open once again to check the time.
"Annoyed with you, maybe," Nightshade taunted, leaning back casually against the air. One of his demons, a tall, emotionless woman in a baseball uniform, raised a hand to support him without missing a beat. "Thank you, darling. Now, I've been ahead of schedule. I'll remind you that She's the one who told me to give you a hand, seeing as you've been using so very many of Her resources. She's not one of your shareholders, Michael, you can't string Her along forever."
"What'd you do before She found you, huh? How exactly did a little faggot like you catch Her eye?" Blackberry snarled. Nightshade laughed.
"Oh, you know, She picked me up from my previous job, having parasites like you shot," he said, tilting his head as if studying Blackberry. "I'll tell you, She's a much better boss than Yagoda ever was, even if my coworkers are a downgrade. You know they haven't even noticed me yet?"
"You know I've taken in four times what you have?" Blackberry retorted.
"And wasted how much of it one these awful new-"
"STOP!"
"There we go," Blackberry muttered, snapping his phone closed. There, standing in front of the scoreboard with her hand outstretched, was a figure in a blue dress, her armour glinting in the floodlights.
"San Francisco has suffered your attention for too long, Prince Blackberry, but your crimes against this beautiful city and her beautiful people end tonight!"
"My God, she's a child. You've been getting your ass beat by a child?" Nightshade remarked.
"My name is Butterfly Ward, Knight of the Future Queen and defender of a better world, of goodness and light, and tonight, of SBC Park! Thousands of people come here to enjoy America's national pastime, and we won't have you corrupt it to your foul ends!"
More figures appeared beside her, dropping down from the shadows atop the scoreboard and landing lightly. The first raised a glowing wand skyward.
"The same way we stopped you from corrupting video games that bring people joy!" Spark called.
"The same way we put an end to your iPod dancing plague and freed its victims!" Heart called.
"The same… urgh. We're going to kick your ass and you have it coming!" Sage added.
"Sage! We practiced! That's not the line!" Ward said, her hands on her hips. "Can you please work with us on this?"
"Well, maybe if you wrote something that didn't sound super lame?" Sage shot back. "This sounds like your fucking boyfriend wrote it!"
"His speeches are cool! You think you could do better?"
"YES! I bet I could!"
"Hmmm. Trouble in paradise?" Nightshade said, laughing and holding up two fingers to frame the arguing pair. "Oh wow. You getting this?"
"Getting what," Blackberry groaned.
"So the boyfriend is this… fake Prince, Rose, right? If I haven't missed my guess, Sage is a little jealous, but not of who either of them think. Delicious drama, great blackmail material."
"Gripping. You were going to lure them in?" Blackberry said.
"Oh right, of course. Ardor IIXX, Tenebrae IV, Lorica XXXIV, leave a third each of your number in reserve and the rest of your advance. Give ground as you need to draw them in," Nightshade ordered with a wave of his hand, sounding utterly bored. "I will say, for what it's worth, I do enjoy seeing your innovations at work… Urgh. When they actually work. Go! Davay! Vypolnyay!"
The orders seemed to finally register in the constructs, who snapped to attention and began to sprint across the field, their cleats tearing up the grass and dirt. Nightshade settled back, scanning the bleachers casually.
"Here we go. Let's see what these new toys of yours can do."
🦋
"One, two, three… six… okay…" Ward counted, bouncing on her armoured toes. "That's more than usual."
"We got this, come on," Heart said, dropping down onto the field and rolling her shoulders as she advanced. "This is gonna be fun."
Spark shrugged and dropped down after her, and Ward followed, her shield unfolding and snapping into shape with clockwork clicks. She clenched a gauntleted fist, light seeping from the gaps in her knuckles and dancing off the silvered armour.
The demons in front, the taller ones with broad arms and shoulders, as one grabbed their forearms and pulled away the false flesh covering them, exposing long grooves down the length of the steel limb. Without breaking pace, they thrust their arms up, and there were flashes of silver and a supersonic whip-crack.
"Daybreak Barrier!" Ward called, pushing her free palm against her shield as she held it out. A wall of solid light flared out around it, the grass under her feet growing by inches in the brief moment the rays played across them as she advanced. Dozens of spikes of molten steel, four inches long and still screaming with their unnaturally halted moment, hung in the spectral shield where they had stopped dead. The light ate away at them, white-hot sparks of purified metal dripping off into the field and sprouting into wildflowers.
The Lorica raised their smoking arms as one, snapping open enormous claws that tore away the ragged skin and cloth that remained around their limbs. Then another group, smaller frames, lighter builds, darted past them, unnaturally long strides carrying them into the Knights in a headlong charge.
Ward dropped the barrier, eyes fixed on the nearest through the loophole, and pulled her fist back. The construct was wearing the face of a young woman, brunette, wide brown eyes, freckles, an utterly innocent face at odds with the unnatural stride and intense, empty stare. Its limbs lengthened and stretched as it closest, flesh splitting and melting away like melting plastic, spindly fingers reaching out toward her throat.
She drove forward and low, its grasp slipping over the top of her shield, and drove her fist into its middle and through. The lithium demon stretched and burst under the impact, dull silvery metal spraying out in a flash of white smoke, superheated pieces tearing away the disguises of the constructs behind it. She blocked the next with her forearm, it bent backward nearly in half to avoid a jab from the edge of her shield, and she wove that strike into an open palm that caught it in the shoulder and sent it sprawling. It shrieked, folding and twisting around itself like a centipede flipped on it back, before launching itself toward her again.
She caught it by the face with an open gauntlet.
"Dawn's Ray Touch!"
She threw the sizzling remains aside and had just a moment to take stock, watching Sage's strings cleave through the light metal like cheese wire, watching Heart finally catch one with an elbow that turned it into a fan-shaped smear of smoking metal, watching Spark incinerate a trio of them with a wave of fire. She picked up and ran toward the larger figures, who had slowed their charge and were reading the spikethrowers again, lightning playing along their shoulders as the copper cores inside spun up and electrified the coiling sinews.
She launched forward and struck the steel construct with a flying punch, tearing away the false face and crushing the solid steel below. It staggered, jabbing the spikethrower forward, and she batted it aside with the edge of her shield, pirouetted under its guard, and struck it a hammer blow to the ribs that sent it crashing down on one leg. The briefest awareness through another perspective had her pivot just in time to throw her shield in the way of a blast of steel, staggering back as the projectiles splashed and burned, each volley a roll of screaming thunder.
She angled her shield back and pressed forward, the ricocheting projectiles tearing apart the construct she had been fighting, folding away her shield as the demon's claw grabbed it and letting it pull her up off the ground. A red string burned itself into the air, the fire tracing a path around its neck, and as she passed over its head she gripped the ends of the strings in her fingers and pulled hard.
She landed silently in the grass as the decapitated steel monster burned behind her, black smoke billowing into the air. Another collapsed and broke apart as Spark battered it with waves of fire and ice, thermal stress causing it to tear itself apart, then there was a distinct tonk of a baseball bat hitting metal and something crashing in the distance. She turned, and there was her Prince high up in the stands, withdrawing his sword from the falling bulk of another, positioned to try and shoot them from the flank. She blew him a kiss.
Three more constructs stood between them and the Princes. Prince Nightshade, a willowy brown-haired man with an arrogant smile, was sitting back against one of the Lorica, holding out a glass that a Tenebrae was filling with wine. Prince Blackberry, a raven-haired, bespectacled figure, met her gaze with a glare.
The three figures ahead burst into white-hot flame. Ardors, the thermite constructs, their arms lengthening into blazing spears as they surged forward. Ward circled, lunged, deflected the roaring metal as she braced herself.
"Bright Star Aura!"
Her haloed frame connected with the first and sent it sprawling, then she grabbed the second around the waist and squeezed. The material screamed and sparked as the reaction accelerated before the construct just popped, its burning material spraying across the field like a firework. The aura was failing as she pushed herself to her feet, catching a burning lance from the final creature through the loophole of her shield. She twisted it aside until it snapped, then she rammed the shield into it. It sprawled to the ground and she pressed atop it, driving it into the dirt as deep as she could until the fire sputtered out.
She stood, panting for breath, watching with satisfaction as the final Ardor flared and burned out as Heart broke it apart with her bat, discarding the charred stick and grinning. She was covered in dozens of tiny cuts and burns, a charred, misshapen handprint burned into her cheek, but she barely seemed to notice.
Prince Nightshade took a sip of his wine, let out a long breath, and nodded.
"Good luck with that, Mike," he said, patting Prince Blackberry on the shoulder, then he threw up his cape and was gone, taking his demons with him.
"You little shit," Blackberry snarled.
"It's over, Prince Blackberry," Ward announced. Prince Rose was at her side, rose petals playing across the field as he stepped out of thin air.
Blackberry burst into a wild grin, squaring himself up. "Well… shit. I guess you got me."
"I mean…" he said, pointing out across the field, which was rapidly burning behind them. "I've run out of demons, haven't I?"
A chill washed over the Knights, and then turned just in time to see the sickly grey-green of a portal fade. Behind each of them stood creatures, obviously demons, their forms hideously and inhumanly misshapen, their disguises like ill-fitting clothes. The one closest to Ward looked down through mismatched blank eyes, steel already visible through rents in the straining flesh.
Ward drew back to strike, then froze. Her fist locked against her breastplate, her pauldrons pulling in against her shoulder, the weightless armour suddenly weighty and constricting. She screamed as the metal began to heat.
Prince Rose's sword flew from his hand and stuck to the demon, its blade snapping whatever was left keeping its human guise in place. The construct that rose from the rags was a misshapen monster of bright white metal, and at its core was a screaming, grinding turbine, uneven layers of copper and iron sparking and screaming as it spun up. It strode forward unevenly, the gyroscopic force making it seem to hang in each step as its forearm parted into a massive pincer.
"B-Bright Star A-aura..!" Ward gasped, and the creature reached through the light, its mirror-finish bubbling and warping but not stopping. The pincer closed around her throat.
She cast her eyes around at the others. Sage threw her strings around a demon made of silvery material and the fibres passed through it like water, even as it surged over her and pinned her to the ground. Heart threw a punch at the crystalized construct in her path and her fist rebounded in an explosion of lightning and a ringing vibration Ward could feel in her teeth. Spark threw fire and ice at her construct and it seemed to ripple in time with each attack, flipping scales from dark to light before grabbing her by the cloak and wrenching the wand from her hand.
She wrenched her head over to see Prince Blackberry with a rapier at Prince Rose's throat; if Rose teleported out of danger, Blackberry could escape. The pincer was tightening.
There was a whistling sound through the air, something heavy hurtling in from behind the bulk of the magnetic demon. It saw her eyes widen and turned to follow, catching sight of, of all things, an iron anvil sailing through the air toward it. The turbine sparked and skipped, the unbearable pressure lessened, and Ward drove her fist into the heart of the creature and pulled. A dozen nested cylinders were torn free as the creature's pincer snapped open and she collapsed to the ground.
"What-?" Blackberry gasped.
Ward tried to stagger to her feet, her vision blurring as she watched the others. Phantom fire sprung up around Spark's creature; its scales reversed to the white side, and Spark weakly pointed a finger up and muttered something that sent a jet of frost into it. The scales spun and jerked in their housings, confused, snapping loose as it collapsed. A wall advanced on the creature holding Heart and it struck out against it in a blaze of electrical discharge, wasting its power on brick that dissolved into smoke and static, then Heart grabbed it around the neck and shattered the crystals with a twist. Sage suddenly burst free of the liquid metal and ran, and the monster followed, revealing the real Sage in the dirt; she folded the strings into a wall that twisted and split the liquid.
Ward coughed and sputtered against the dirt, her muscles weak, off-balance. Sage was coughing up silvery material, Heart shivering, Spark lying back in the dirt. Blackberry had grabbed Prince Rose by the shoulder, the blade against his throat. A half-dozen new constructs burst out of the dugouts, surging for the field.
"None of you move! This isn't over, this isn't-"
And then the floodlights switched off. The lights of the city winked out. Even the stars vanished, the night absolute.
There was the murmur of a crowd in the dark. Anticipation, excitement, whispers all around. An electric energy built around them, a distant hum, the tension of a drum skin, the subtle hum of strings, the gleam of brass. There was a click and a whirl and a single point of silver light cast itself onto the sky, then became a shape, skipping and flashing and rolling against the clouds.
⑤
④
③
②
①
"Straight from the silver screen, live right here and right now, on the air and in your hearts! For one night only, RKO Pictures Presents, in stunning Technicolour…"
The voice came from everywhere, distorted through ancient speakers and the haze of an AM broadcast, a male voice filled with enthusiasm and showmanship, with the warmth of an old record.
"... LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, boys and girls of beautiful San Francisco, put your hands together for your hero, America's darling, love's strongest soldier, the one, THE ONLY…"
There was the clunk of a heavy switch and a spotlight shone out across the stands, illuminating a solitary figure in a blue dress, sparkling, posing with a hand held up to the sky. The golden beam of the spotlight reflected off mirrored sunglasses and scattered into a thousand blue rays off the glittering sapphires in her shoes.
"Who the hell are you?" Prince Blackberry's voice rang out.
The figure recoiled in mock offense, her hand going to her mouth, lifting her sunglasses to her forehead.
"Who said that?" she said, her voice clear and sweet. A set of smaller spotlights swivelled across the field and fixed one by one over Prince Blackberry, who clutched the blade closer to Rose's throat. "And here I thought everyone knew. What about you girls?"
"No..?" Ward called out weakly. The figure put her hand to her heart, a microphone appearing in the air above the other and dropping into her palm.
"Oh my!" There was a crash of cymbals. "You too?" A drumbeat. "I'm shocked!" ("Shocked!" mirrored an invisible choir.) "Awed!" ("Awwwww.") "This just won't do! Well, you just sit right there, and maybe I can shine a little light on the situation?"
The last thing Ward heard before the band started up was Heart muttering "-the fuck?"
There's dangers lurking out in the dark,
shadows spreading like a blight.
They said little girl! Stay indoors!
but this girl's looking… for… a… fi-i-ight!
Shadows moved among the empty stands as the figure descended the stairs, her shoes tap-tapping down each concrete step and echoing through the night. A demon, or something like it, raced up the stairs toward her as she sang.
I don't much care to punch or kick,
Flashy enchantments? Hit or miss.
See, I'm not one for trading blows,
when I'd much rather blow a kiss! Mwah!
The demon blew away like dust. She threw up her arms, and the lights came on with them, the world a riot of colour and sound. The stands were filled with a cheering crowd, adoring identical simulacra following her every move as the sky danced with technicolour patterns.
Now lemme paint a picture!
Tell a fib! Weave some lies!
And with that Hollywood magic,
you will believe your eyes!
So do I have your full attention?
Don't you know that I'm divine?
I'm her! That's me! You heard it here,
It's Butter-fly Shine!
"Butterfly Shine!" the chorus echoed, as cheers went up all around.
"KILL HER!" Prince Blackberry called; it sounded like he'd been screaming it for some time. Dark shapes climbed up into the stands, swiping their way through the flickering, unreal crowd. One of them was nearly upon her when the stairs gave way into a slide and she slid down, popping back to her feet on the railing with a gymnast's pose as the announcer cut back in.
"That's RIGHT ladies and gentlemen, all the way from sunny Los Angeles California, it's the spectacular star of stage and screen, Butterfly Shine herself! And boys? She's single!"
"Now now, not just boys," Shine corrected into the microphone as the crowd roared. From somewhere in the direction of Heart, Ward heard a loud whistle. Butterfly Shine stepped away down the narrow railing as Blackberry's demons raced after her, elegantly twirling along the metal. "In fact, there's more than enough of me to go around!"
Spotlights swirled around the crowd and figures stood up, duplicates of Shine jumping up into the light. The demons paused, their heads twitching around, unable to process this new information.
Star of the show! (Belle of the ball!)
Cream of the crop! (Straight to the top!)
"THAT ONE!" Blackberry screamed, whipping the sword out to point at the original. Rose moved immediately, shaking off the grip and running, then suddenly there was a dozen of him, two dozen, the copies filling the field. The leading Shine grinned in triumph, then recoiled, the microphone dropping from her hands as a metal spike crashed through her chest.
"Oh no. They got me," she said, clutching at her heart with a wink and falling from the railing. The crowd gasped, then the cheers redoubled as the spotlights refocused across the stands. Another Shine was waiting there, no worse for wear, blowing kisses to the crowd.
"Now that wasn't very nice. And here I was, thinking of giving you a chance to apologize. Oh look, he's running. So soon?"
The spotlight leapt across the field, chasing down Prince Blackberry as he sprinted for the entrance, calling to his demons. The image was repeated against the sky like a great screen, instant replays of his every misstep woven in. Three of his constructs dropped in to guard him, but they tripped, stumbled and fell as the ground shifted and churned around them.
Shine wasn't singing anymore, muttering something as she gestured and pointed, each movement smashing aside one of the constructs with illusory walls with very real mass. Her duplicates jumped in, exploding in puffs of smoke when they were hit but landing blows of their own in turn.
Prince Blackberry grabbed one of his remaining demons and pointed up to the stands, and the distant Shine who was casting spells popped apart just like the others. The song continued without pause.
Hold on now, prince charmless,
you sold your soul for royalty.
Served the wrong queen all along,
what'd you get for loyalty?
So spare me your excuses!
There's nothing left to say.
You've hurt your last innocent,
and now you're gonna pay.
The chorus laughed and mocked as Blackberry grabbed the emergency door handle and opened it onto a brick wall, as the stairs collapsed under him, as the walls twisted and curved to box him in.
End of the road! (you're out of track!)
It's curtain call (you can't fight back!)
The crowd roared. The lights danced and shimmered. Fireworks burst in the sky under an unnatural full moon. The Shine that strode past Ward did so elevated off the ground, on a red carpet that unrolled endlessly along the field. There was a glint of silver in her hand as she followed a copy of herself that must have been twelve feet tall, looming over everything as she sang her closing verse.
There's nowhere left to run to,
there's nowhere to hide.
Baby there's no second chances,
cause you chose your side!
(you chose your side!)
The walls sealed up around Prince Blackberry, hiding him from view as the music reached a crescendo.
You made mistakes, a few missteps,
you crossed the wrong butterfly-y-y!
So get your affairs in order…
Shine snapped something closed in her hand and disappeared through the wall.
Somewhere, behind the smoke and mirrors, behind the curtain, a fifteen year old girl pulled back the hammer of a revolver and held it up with shaking hands.
"It's time to die."
…and say goodbye!
There was a crash of cymbals, a final flare of sparklers, and the illusion faded. The stars came back. The sound of racing sirens and a distant helicopter returned. Ward sat up slowly, clutching her neck and coughing. She felt off-balance, and the noise didn't help.
A hand reached out, and she took it before looking up. There was Butterfly Shine, smiling down at her, framed as a shadow against the floodlights.
"Ward, right?" she asked, looking so happy she might cry. "I gotta say, it's so nice to finally meet you."
I don't think you could possibly introduce Esmé in a better way than this. Absolutely pitch perfect introduction from the illusion to the reality. We the audience go into this chapter knowing the tragic truth and the shadow it's cast over the story and now we get to see the flashy lights and noise with just enough to tie the two together in a way that twists the knife all the harder.
Oh, she's an old Hollywood Starlet in every single possible way.
It's very cool to see how each of the Butterflies is clearly based on their own ideal. Eve is a disney princess/knight, Kimiyo is a Miko, Brigid is a Wizard/RPG character, Riley is a Punk (and probably the one with the least distance between her normal self).
Also, I can't let this go unsaid, but this is just absolutely phenomenal.
I don't think you could possibly introduce Esmé in a better way than this. Absolutely pitch perfect introduction from the illusion to the reality. We the audience go into this chapter knowing the tragic truth and the shadow it's cast over the story and now we get to see the flashy lights and noise with just enough to tie the two together in a way that twists the knife all the harder.
It's hitting double for me, because this is kinda the same way I feel about Riley. I'm realizing more and more that her whole... deal... is something that hits me really hard, and seeing what she's like here versus what she gets torn down and reduced to? I really hope there's more to this than it appears.
Also It's kind of funny to get this two weeks after seeing the 2025 version of Sailor Moon the Super Live where Queen Beryl gets a swing number for her villain song.
Either the Dark Queen has been at this a *while*, or she can pluck people out of time. Possibly both. The Princely flashback to a previous Butterfly Knight does imply that this has been going on for a lot longer than just the current iteration of Team Butterfly... On the other hand, uh. If the Dark Queen has been operating basically unopposed from at *least* the 1930s up to 2004, how has she not long since achieved... world domination? ... What *is* the Dark Queen's goal, actually?
But yes, as far as I know, the assumption that HRT is birth control should only be used if one's trying, or expecting to try, to conceive and that'd be a problem.
