Chương 107: 7.09 No Return without Receipt or Label

2104: 04: 12: 16: 41: 11 Today was not quite the sudden confluence of fates that had happened on March 19 th, but it was a close call. Us Sentinels had shared the information we'd – Mantellan, Aetherna and Changelinger specifically – obtained during the events of that fateful day where we uncovered the burgeoning summoning and teleportation network Magistry was setting up with the Guardians and Wardens, and now the chickens were coming home to roost.

While said info hadn't come as a total surprise to the two great hero groups – anybody with half an eye on Charm's masquerade scene could see the previously-indolent Magistry was up to something – it had served to fill in the gaps enough for action.

Immediately the heroes set the trio of masked responsible for both the events of the 19 th as well as the combined strike against the Jannacht months earlier – two augurs, one master; Miniamisser, Disputation and Skeuos – to head a new operation, this time aiming to break Magistry. All bar Blade Eater, Doombell, Amber and I were to be involved in the direct attack on Magistry's nexuses while the rest had a different part to play in this operation: occupying the attention of Magistry's masked as much as possible.

The augur Miniamisser had predicted today to be the day of another spectacle fight between Magistry and Motorgang. The exact location of that was still unclear, so all of us were split up. Blade Eater and Doombell went the furthest north of all the groups, patrolling right on the border between Aberdeen and Riverside.

The licensed heroes were all an adult-minor pair, with Parisian Flair and Greendance south of the two Sentinels right around where Aberdeen met Little Europe and furthest south, right where Greenside began, were Lady Mercy and Quarteller. Amber and I were somewhere in the middle, in the heart of Little Europe. Graphoondire Park to be exact. Not within the actual park, but in the natural habitat of any well-adjusted, self-respecting vigilante: a nearby rooftop.

As most of these fights were in large, open areas where collateral damage would be minimal, Skeuos – the de facto leader of the whole operation – had placed us all in locations like these, spaced out evenly along the whole of the zone of operation. That way once the battle started, we could all quickly reinforce one another and stall Magistry's masked from leaving, bait out any reinforcements, and maybe, just maybe capture some of their masked as well. Unfortunately, that maybe did a lot of heavy lifting.

The heroes neither wanted to risk escalating the situation overall nor disrupt the operation by being too successful. It rankled a bit that our role was basically not to capture the villain, but not as much as it would've when the Heroic Impulse was pressing me to do more. And besides, I had too much on my plate already to let this affect me on top of that. A jingle played in our ear and Amber and I pressed our Wardens-provided earpiece.

"Crowsong, Jester," Skeuos said over comms.

"The fighting's started at Parisian Flair and Greendance's location. Perihellion, Dryadynamo, and an unknown third against Helltearer, Deathride, Dieselpriest-" I saw Amber tense; could this be another shot at her long overdue revenge?

"-and Husk Carl."

"Alright, we're-" But before she could even finish her sentence and we could start going, "Scratch that," Skeuos said.

"We've got another situation brewing bayside. Harehead and two unknown villains – presumed juniors – are reportedly stirring things up. Crowsong, Jester, you two are the closest; go check it out."

"All the way to Bayside?" Crowsong asked.

"We'll never make it in time. And if they have teleporters there, they'll escape before we can even try and delay them."

"What?" Skeuos sounded confused, before he ah-ing in realization.

"Oh, right. Apologies. Not Bayside the district, but Little Europe's bayside. Minimedi Beach west of you." Amber visibly held back a sigh.

"Alright, fine. We'll go check it out." And when a clicky noise came, she sighed.

"Couldn't even be bothered to learn the names of what he's protecting." I snorted.

"You sound like your uncles. Next step: secession?" I raised an invisible pitchfork.

"Cascadians, rise up!" She sighed, and while I couldn't see it, I could tell she was rolling her eyes underneath that beak of hers.

"Let's just get going." X And get going we did. Minimedi Beach wasn't far away, and we arrived within five minutes. On that sandy beach – imported sand of course, or else it'd be a field of grass at best, or mud at worst – right in front of the waterline stood, as Skeuos had said, Harehead and two other villain-coded, presumed-junior masked. Though saying they were making a mess was a clear overexaggeration on Skeuos' part. Nothing seemed to be burning, destroyed, flipped or even out of place.

The only 'messy' things were those bits of food and drinks from fleeing patrons and beach-goers, all left behind in their hurry to create some distance between them and the villainous trio. Which, considering it was still April, and the weather wasn't that good, also wasn't much of a mess. Crowsong's hand went to her ear.

"We've got eyes on 'em." I heard a click, Skeuos tuning in on our frequency again.

"Good." He sounded harried. Were things not going well?

"Do whatever you can to delay them. If you can get Harehead and the other two locked down for long enough, we'll send over other masked once they realize the jig is up. Good luck." He cut the connection. Crowsong and I stared at each other, nodded, and calmly, as slowly as naturally possible, made our way up the beach towards the villains. It was all about stalling, after all. Harehead was instantly recognizable, and not just because I'd seen the masked before when Amber had fought her.

The villain's namesake mask only covered from the nose and eyes upward, and had two large ears flopping down from a grey wimple. Her jaw, cheek and indeed every piece of exposed skin was colored a too-pale chalky white, including her lips. The rest of her outfit was an all-white long shirt tied with a cord and simple cloth pants. It looked almost peasant-like the way it looked so neat. To the right of her, the first unknown villain was dressed somewhat unimaginatively.

One half of their basic near-skintight costume was a bright white and the other a pure black, with a connecting circle of both colors in the center of their chest. Not that I was the one to cast stones in this regard, but their mask was also a cliché: the drama-comedy one with black smiling half and white crying half, also arranged opposite to the main suit's colors.

To Harehead's left, the second unknown villain was dressed in what could best be described as a hundred books transformed into the dress of a 19 th century dandy (minus the top hat and cane) and a paper ballroom mask. The 'fabric' itself looked to be old, yellowed paper filled with words, but the black ink danced in nonsensical, squiggly patterns – so definitely not words – and there seemed to be a feint glow of varying colors coming from it.

As we came closer, the head villain bowed at the waist at a near-ninety-degree angle, arms to the side and bunny ears flopping with the motion. She rose again just as swiftly and stared straight ahead, not saying a word. I looked to Crowsong, and she to me; we both shrugged. The junior villains' eyes shifted alternately from Harehead to us, also seeming about as lost.

"…Hi?" I tried. Harehead bowed again, shallowly this time, then gestured to the pair of villains by her side. Then she pointed to us, spread her arms with palms open and smiling brightly, her teeth that same uncanny chalk white as her skin. All four of us watched intently, doing our best to interpret what was going on.

"Yeah, she doesn't talk," the black-white Unknown Villain #1 said, voice young and boyish.

"Not even to us," said the paper dandy temporarily designated Unknown Villain #2; a girl, I thought, though her voice was rather heavy.

"And believe me, we tried. Kinda annoying actually, especially in the field."

"Okay, so… what now?" I asked. The two juniors shrugged, and Crowsong looked about ready to facepalm.

"You weren't given instructions or anything?" she asked.

"No 'tear up the place', or 'create a portal to hell' or anything."

"Nah," said Unknown Villain #1. Unknown Villain #2 meanwhile snorted.

"As if we could." A small, breathless groan escaped my mentor at their answer, but I didn't really mind. If things continued like this, stalling them would be beyond easy. Either way, we remained standing awkwardly, the villains idly kicking sand while Crowsong and I tried our best to find inner peace – I more successfully than her, probably. Harehead, still posing like she was the picture of magnanimity, hung her head in disappointment at our – villains and vigilantes both – lack of initiative.

She then began shoving Unknown Villain #1 further to the left, then Unknown Villain #2 further to the right. She then gestured towards Crowsong and I to split up likewise, then pounded her fists together. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Crowsong and I looked at each other again and remained where we were. Harehead, still with that same eerie smile, stomped down on the sand once and in the blink of an eye, she was between us.

I quickly shifted into a gorilla to wrestle with the villain, but before I could do anything Harehead jumped and performed a midair split-kick. It hit like a truck and I was instantly launched a couple meters away, tumbling backwards through the sand until coming to a stop right before the junior villain. On the other end Crowsong had managed to whip out her whipswords and blocked the attack, but the impact likewise caused her to fly backwards a couple of meters, also opposite a junior villain.

Interestingly, we flew back the same distance despite our difference in weight. The moment the tip of Harehead's foot touched the ground, she idly jumped backwards to where she came from with just the flex of her toes. With both hands, she pointed at her juniors, then at us, then pounded her fists together again. The villain might not be talkative, but she sure knew how to communicate what she wanted. My mental calculus was quickly done; accepting the duel was preferable over a free for all.

We didn't know the juniors' powers, and accepting presumably meant that Harehead wouldn't interfere. I stood up and shifted back to base for a second. Turning to my opponent, I asked, "… Your name?" It was both a genuine interest and further stalling. He gestured at his costume.

"Fifty-Fifty."

"Numbers Room?"

"Yeah, sort of. I joined them right before the whole," he gestured to Harehead, "Magistry thing, you know?" He shrugged.

"At least they let me keep the name. Didn't even bother asking me to change." That seemed to be on-theme for the group. Magistry hadn't changed the names of their masked like Motorgang had done to Dead Hive's villains. Numbers Room or Dusk Bandits; they'd all retained their nom-de-guerre. Searching for a further topic, "Why join them at all?" He stood still, and while I couldn't see his expression well from this distance, "…Kind of personal for a first meeting, don't you think?" I could feel him judging me.

"Fair enough," I said.

"…How about powers?"

"Ha!" he barked.

"Nice try." He sprinted toward me, and while the sand should've made that tricky, it didn't seem to bother him; a clue to his power, though not so useful on its own. The same went for his name and costume. Still, I had time to consider what to do. He was clearly not a long-range type of masked, so letting him get close might be a mistake. Doing the Hexkey drone trick might, if it hit, end the fight instantly, but the goal was to stall for as long as possible.

I decided to shift into one of the new forms I'd gotten from Changelinger: the grey-skinned half-giant. Though I lacked the real version's abominable strength, it was still an eight-foot-tall muscular man, and since I'd yet to master its form and I could get a new one from Changelinger at any time, it was more expendable than the gorilla, which practically overlapped in utility.

Also, while not 'mastered' in the sense of allowing quick-shifting, the human (or near-human) figure made it much easier to use sambo techniques with. As Fifty-Fifty took his last step towards me, I lashed out for a half-hearted grapple, which he cleanly dodged in a clearly practiced manner. The villain rushed underneath my outstretched arm, hooked his foot behind mine and pressed his palm into my chest.

The push was feather-light, packing less of a punch than a boy of his size should be able to manage against a giant my size. Yet despite that, I found my body forced to stumble backwards, trip over his feet and fall ass-first into the sand. I couldn't prevent it; no rolling with it or standing my ground was allowed. How strange… He wasn't a super, that much was clear, but neither did he feel like a hand-to-hand combat master – that effect felt far too esoteric for that.

A close-ranged caster, or an alter of some kind? I hadn't seen a glow or anything like it, but what else could explain it. Yet how would that fit in with his name and theme? All these considerations passed through my mind in the instant my body reacted to my opponent's move. Before Fifty-Fifty's leap for the grapple could reach, I was already rolling out of the way. Fifty-Fifty hit the proverbial dirt, and this time I took the initiative.

I rolled over and tried to grapple him in turn, but while I was successful in the act itself, the struggle that followed was quickly lost. Like an eel, he slipped away even despite me having him fully pinned in a bear hug. It was like he or I had been hit by one of Hexkey's no-friction drones. The two of us rose and split apart, circling each other warily. While it furthered the goal of prolonging the fight, I felt frustrated at the failure.

I knew I was better than this, but whatever his powers were gave him the edge regardless. It couldn't be a caster power as there'd been no discernable beam or anything like it, and his technique wasn't masterful; just super effective. An alter then. And considering his costume- I decided to both shift gears and shift shape. Jumping away, I shifted into base human form and after landing, shifted into a crow. I flew up as quick as I could and turned to circle him from above, taking care to never be within reach.

As I circled and prepared to execute my patented rope drone trick, Fifty-Fifty crouched down and grabbed a handful of sand. Without further ado – or seemingly much thought at all – he threw it straight up roughly towards where I would be. I flapped to change course and flew higher to get out of reach, yet his attack struck me unerringly. I squawked as sand hit my eyes and flapped my wings to get out of the way of any follow up strike, but alas.

Two rocks (or shells, or some other solid thing) whizzed by me, but the third hit and clipped my wing. Thinking fast as I fell, I quick-shifted into a gorilla and readied myself to duke it out again with Fifty-Fifty, but before I could even land, I was tackled and put into choke hold instantly. Me, a two-hundred-kilogram gorilla, put into a hold by a boy weighing maybe sixty soaking wet? Naturally I struggled to get out of his grip, but the natural wasn't enough to break Fifty-Fifty's powers.

It was like every surface, both on and off the villain, was supernaturally slick, and his grip heavy as tungsten. So I opted for the supernatural as well. I shifted back to base, automatically breaking the hold as I grew smaller. Fifty-Fifty tried grabbing me again, but something in his powers must've failed because I slipped by his grasp. Before either of us could rise, I pushed myself against the sand as hard as I could and tackled the villain – also successfully this time.

I twisted my legs around his, dug my arm underneath his back to reach for his arm on the other side, then pulled and flipped him over. While on his stomach, I pulled his arm underneath my knee and put all my weight on it, holding him to reach for his other arm and secure them with a zip tie. Yet with his legs now free, and with a flexibility I didn't expect from him, the boy swung his leg up and over me, placing his thigh on my chest.

Quick as lightning, the positions were reversed; me on my back and him looming above me. I shifted into a cat to get out from under him, but the odds he was working with turned in his favor. I jumped and he leaped after me, and rather than slip between his grasp as would happen to anyone else, my cat form was grabbed and locked into his embrace. Stuck as a cat, unable to shift back and unable to squirm my way out of his grip, I had lost. I yowled in annoyance.

Getting caught by some no-name villain in their first fight? How extremely embarrassing. Sure, his powers were unknown and my goal had been to stall, and I'd clearly picked the worst possible way of confronting him, but still this performance was painfully bad. Of course I could still auto-terminate my cat form, shift into a crow and fly away to start peppering him with concentrated non-lethal death-from-above rope or gravity beams – but honestly, what would be the point?

Again, I was meant to stall, and from the way Harehead had 'instructed' us to duel each other it was highly unlikely that they were planning to, like, permanently harm or kidnap Crowsong and I or something. This wasn't a Motorgang situation, but simply another spectacle fight by Magistry, with us as unwilling participants. One I'd lost stupidly, but fair and square. I deserved the shame… as long as it didn't last too long. As if to answer my prayer, a whistling noise came.

"Good fight," Fifty-Fifty gloated, giving me two hard pats on the back before releasing me. As he retreated back to Harehead's side, I shifted and stuck my tongue out at his back. Harehead pointed at Crowsong and I, then gestured for us to switch places. Looking over at my mentor, the field of burned-up paper and a sour-looking Unknown Villain #2, it was clear at least one of us had won. I looked at Crowsong questioningly and despite the mask obscuring her expression, her shrug read as a 'Why not?'

or something similar. I shrugged agreeably in return. As we walked by each other, "Summantics; summons constructs through written-on paper. Horrible physicality on the beach, so attack from range," Crowsong told me. In return I told her, "Fifty-Fifty; influences odds of successful attacks; limited in both range and number of alterations, so either stay back or overwhelm his skewed odds." What little else I'd figured out wasn't critical, or Crowsong could guess easily.

We moved past without stopping and I took position opposite Summantics. Harehead whistled again, signaling the start of round two. My opponent threw out her arms, a quartet of little paper airplanes carrying illegible words leaving her hands. A paper tiger, two chimpanzees and a kind of dragon-in-miniature appeared, the latter already taking flight and heading to my position. I didn't bother with them for now and focused on Summantics herself.

Quickly jumping into the air and quick-shifting into a sparrow to fly higher, I aimed, turned into a rope drone, and fired. Spamming the metaphorical trigger as quick as I could, I let loose on the villain. She tried dodging out of the way but as Crowsong had said, her condition was terrible and unlike her partner Fifty-Fifty, the sand definitely bothered her. Before the fourth shot could even be fired, the second and third hit dead center. Only then did the paper dragon reach me.

It immediately began tearing into my metal body with its paper teeth – and quite successfully too for its paper nature – but a quick beam of the rope drone resulted in its wings getting tangled. The two of us plummeted to the ground, the impact crumpling its paper jaw and releasing my form. I quick-shifted into a gorilla right as the paper tiger jumped on me. Claws tore into my left arm and side, drawing blood as the beast made to bite.

Unfortunately for it, I was too quick and jammed my right arm straight down its throat before it could come close to biting mine. Whatever paper biology Summantics power gave these creatures was clearly too detailed. The creature panicked and did its best to scramble away from me. But with my other arm freed, I grabbed the lower jaw and tore, ripping the paper tiger from cheek to chest like, well, paper.

Turning my gaze, I saw the two chimpanzees had meanwhile left to free their owner, but were still struggling to get the magical rope off to release her. Almost idly, I repeated the drone trick and blasted them all with the fully powered bomb of my anti-gravity blast. Distracted as they were, it caught the group without any hassle. I walked up to them casually while considering what to do with the apes. The heat-ray drone would've been useful here, but alas, I didn't have it anymore.

The motorbike had the fire exhaust option, but I didn't want to risk burning Summantics. Even without considering the risk of Harehead escalating the fight in response, Summantics hadn't done anything to deserve it. Ultimately, I just shot them with the rope drone as well, and then, when the anti-gravity power dropped after thirty seconds, I tore them apart barehanded (as a gorilla, just to be sure they truly couldn't do anything). And that was that. Looking over, I saw Crowsong had finished her fight also.

Her whip-swords were out, a couple of throwing knives littered the field and Fifty-Fifty sat in the sand with his hands up in surrender, a circle of throwing knives around him. It was clear she'd gone with the 'overwhelm the odds' option. Harehead started clapping and jumping up and down cheerfully, but all it did was getting Crowsong and my hackles raised. What would happen now? Harehead surely wouldn't let us leave with her juniors in tow, and we weren't about to give them up without a fight.

And still, our goal was to stall. For better or worse, the Magistry villain gestured again, suggesting a new fight: a two vs two. I looked at Crowsong again, asking the same question as before. Yet unlike then, she seemed uncertain here, and I understood the issue. This would likely be the last fight, so what would be better: stall further for a two vs two, potentially losing and letting all the villains go in the end?

Or would it be better to try and take on Harehead, even if it would result in this playfight turning serious? Before either of us could make up our minds however, Harehead turned and tilted her head, looking at the sky as if she'd just heard a noise. And from the fact that she nodded afterwards, that might be exactly what happened. I preemptively switched into a crow and flew up, ready to blast her with anti-gravity. Crowsong unspooled her whip-blade and stood in front of her capture, ready to defend her prize.

Harehead turned around again, smile still present. Yet for some reason it held a sinister edge this time. I quick-shifted into a drone and fired, but Harehead was too fast. In an instant her jump had taken her ten meters to the right, then she pushed herself against the ground and jumped straight at me. I quickly turned into a sparrow and flew up just in time to avoid the rabbit-shaped missile. Yet I might not have even been the goal. The villain landed beside Summantics and grabbed hold of the rope holding her.

I quick-shifted into a gorilla and fell to try and grapple, but all I got for my efforts was a lightning-quick roundhouse kick in the face and the promise of a quick bath as she sent me skipping over Grays Harbor's waters in a daze. As I shifted back to base and swam up to the surface, I was just in time to see Crowsong had predicted Harehead would come for her Fifty-Fifty next and had repositioned, blocking the path between them.

Harehead stopped on a dime straight in front of my mentor, standing there like she hadn't just moved a hundred or more kilometers an hour. Crowsong lashed out with her right whip but the rabbit ducked under it with ease. Crowsong then angled the strike so that it would come from three directions simultaneously: a diagonal from the upper left, a pull to send the trail of the dodged strike closing in from the back, and a subsequent push to have that same whip's cord attacking from the front.

Together, it was like a barbed-wire string net closing in on the villain. Yet the hare escaped the net. Even crouched, Harehead simply stomped the sand and shot off, going less than half a meter to the side before stomping again and going up right through the infinitesimal gap in the net, arcing toward Crowsong and Fifty-Fifty. Bending her knees and pushing against the air, Harehead prepared to strike again.

Crowsong made to throw her war-cloak over Fifty-Fifty to stop Harehead from taking him, but it quickly became clear that the junior wasn't the target; that honor went to Crowsong. Crowsong tried to twist the war cloak to intercept the villain, but Harehead wasn't where she expected to go. Rather than land in front or behind Crowsong, Harehead elected instead to land on Crowsong's shoulder – strangely gently too, without any visible impact whatsoever.

Then, quick as a viper, the villain pirouetted while still on Crowsong's shoulders. Whatever strange leg-based superpower the villain worked with, it resulted in Crowsong being sent spinning and joining me in the ocean. By the time either of us made it to shore, Magistry was gone.