Pt. 089.g - Cassie Challenge

The first thing Cassie noticed was the music.

A bright, relentlessly cheerful pop song poured from speakers hidden somewhere in the ceiling. The singer was having a wonderful day. Apparently she had fallen in love, made friends with the entire world, and discovered that every problem could be solved by dancing through it. Even worse, the song was called “She Goes Boom!”.

Cassie hated the song, the singer, and whoever chose the track list that day.

They were standing on the upper floor of a shopping mall. Glass storefronts curved around a broad open atrium. Escalators ran without passengers, their black steps rolling steadily past displays of cosmetics, shoes, and autumn sale signs. White light poured through the skylights onto the polished tiles. A fountain played below, throwing glittering arcs of water around a circular stone basin. Somewhere nearby, a recorded voice announced an offer on handbags.

Van appeared beside her, looking around with a wary expression.

“A mall,” he said, half question, half bewilderment.

“Gold star. You want to work out what we're supposed to do here, or should we stop for pretzels first?”

He glanced toward a shuttered food kiosk. “Are pretzels an option?”

Before she could answer, gold text unfolded in the air between them.

BEST GIRL POLL 01 — FINAL RESULTS

CASSIE LIN — EIGHTH PLACE

AUDIENCE FAVOR: 6.6%

LAST-PLACE PENALTY: PRETTY PRINCESS

ACTIVE FOR THE DURATION OF THIS CHALLENGE

“Oh, you've got to be fucking—”

A bell chimed, interrupting her outrage. Light caught her beneath the boots and lifted her several inches off the floor. Cassie flailed, found herself balanced with her toes pointed, and felt her arms extend to either side as though somebody had decided she was the centerpiece of a stage show.

Pink ribbons of light wound around her legs. Her dark Riot uniform dissolved into glittering bands that spun upward, each passing band leaving something new in its wake. Her boots became pink-and-white lace-up combat boots with rose-gold eyelets and little decorative bows. White gloves slid over her hands. A fitted bodice assembled itself beneath a short pink bolero, a heart-shaped jewel settling into the middle of an enormous bow across her chest.

She knew the sort of scene it belonged to. She'd watched enough magical-girl anime to recognize the floating turn, the swirl of ribbons, the strategically timed flash of the finished outfit.

Her shorts were still practical, at least. The ridiculous pleated overskirt fell over them without catching her legs. Cover Girl apparently hadn't surrendered its interest in her clothes; it had simply found a new way to humiliate her.

A ribbon tied itself around her black bob. Something heart-shaped settled against her hair.

Cassie tried to seize the ribbon. Her right hand rose instead, two fingers framing her cheek. Her left settled on her hip. One knee bent inward, lifting the heel off the ground. Her other leg was straight and her head tipped. She landed in a pose so aggressively adorable that she could swear she heard a fanfare.

The mall’s music hit a particularly enthusiastic chorus, crying “She goes boom!” at that exact moment.

[I'm going to murder whoever—]

“Ta-da!” she announced.

She heard her own voice and froze. It was higher, sweeter, almost musical. Her mouth stretched into a hopeful smile.

Van stared, open-mouthed. He started breathing again soon after and struggled not to laugh.

Cassie fought the smile until her cheeks ached. [What the actual fuck?]

What came out was, “Well? What do you think, Van? Do you like my new outfit?”

[Oh, no.]

Van's expression changed from astonishment to concern. He looked at the notification, then back at her.

“Cassie?”

[Don't you dare laugh.]

His mouth twitched.

She narrowed her eyes. Or tried to. Her face chose a pronounced pout instead, complete with hands on her hips and an involuntary wiggle of her backside.

“I'm sorry,” he said, with the unmistakable effort of somebody trying not to grin. “I know. This isn't fair.”

[It's humiliating,] Cassie intended to say.

“Awww, you're worried about me!” her mouth replied. “That's so sweet.”

Van pressed his lips together. His shoulders shook once.

Cassie considered setting his shoes on fire. Cover Girl would probably protect him, and he would deserve the scare.

Then he reached for the Hotel phone in his pocket.

[What are you doing?], she thought desperately.

“I think I need a picture.”

Cassie went very still. [Absolutely not.]

Instead, her hands clasped behind her back. “Only if you think I'll look pretty!”

He looked up, startled by the answer. “Wait, you’re ok with this? I expected an argument.” He was lowering the phone he had lifted in jest.

She shook her head hard enough to make the ribbon bounce. The movement finished as a coy tilt.

She wanted to be angry that he would even joke about recording this humiliation, but there was a familiar glint in his eyes, one she recognized from their better conversations. He was enjoying having something to tease her about, and she was halfway to finding that funny herself. Halfway was not far enough to make this acceptable.

“It was just a joke, Cassie,” he said.

Cassie tried to tell him that whatever crimes he committed with a photograph would be repaid a hundredfold. Instead she turned sideways, placed one hand lightly beneath her chin, and offered him a dazzling smile. Her other hand traced a graceful little flourish over the bow.

Van blinked. “Ok, you made it weird. Let’s just figure out this challenge.”

---

As if they had been waiting for a cue, metallic shrieks cut through the music. Cassie's attention snapped toward the far end of the concourse. Beyond the upper railing, an entrance with tall glass doors looked out onto a deserted plaza. One set of doors buckled inward. Steel bent around a gap too narrow for the creature trying to force its way through.

A long-armed Alter shoved through the frame and stumbled onto the tiled floor. Another followed, dragging a claw along the metal. Five more crowded behind them, variously hunched, thick-shouldered, and bare of anything that resembled restraint.

Eight. Cassie counted without thinking. Three near the entrance, three bunched behind, and a pair coming in from the side.

Cassie turned to Van, with a seeking expression. “What do we do?” she asked.

She hadn't meant to ask that. She knew exactly what to do. Force them apart with explosions then single out the most unbalanced one with repeated shots.

Van looked from her to the monsters. “I don't know,” he said. “This is your area. Can’t you fight them?”

The question loosened something inside her. [Of course,] she tried to snap.

Instead, her voice took on a sudden cheerfulness. “Since it’s you asking, Van, I'll do my very best!” she said brightly.

[Fine. If this curse wanted to make her sound like a cartoon, it could watch a cartoon beat eight monsters into the floor.]

Cassie brought her hands together. Orange-gold plasma gathered between her palms, hot enough to make the air shiver. She fed it until the ball swelled wider than her head, then hurled it down the empty walkway.

The blast struck the leading Alter and burst outward across the group. A display window imploded. The creatures flew in different directions, some smacking against the tile, others tumbling into a decorative planter. The explosion drowned the music for a moment.

Cassie ran forward, firing as she moved. Smaller bolts hammered the nearest bodies before they could get their feet under them. One Alter twitched, then went limp beneath a shower of broken glass.

ALTER DEFEATED

+1 VP

The second had hooked its claws into a bench. Cassie broke the bench beneath it and followed with a shot to its exposed chest. It collapsed amid splintered wood.

ALTER DEFEATED

+1 VP

Six left.

The opening strike had been expensive but sensible: the pack had been clustered at an empty entrance, where a single blast could stop them from spreading. Now that they were scattered, continuing at the same pace would be wasteful. Heat prickled beneath her gloves and her breathing had quickened. She needed a new position and a more deliberate rhythm.

She wanted to retreat toward the inner railing and funnel the Alters across a narrower approach. With Van beside her, she could fire at a sustainable pace and avoid the surrounding storefronts. She could already see the route, the angles, and the safest place for him to stand. Starting the new maneuver was another matter.

Her feet slowed. [Go left, she told herself. Cut off the ones nearest the railing.] She tried to move. Instead, she turned her head toward Van, looking for his expression. The interruption was so small that it might have passed for ordinary distraction if she hadn't felt herself trying to override it.

“Cassie?” Van was watching her hands. “You're pushing pretty hard. Are you okay?”

[I'm fine. I just need to change how I'm—]

“Is this right, Senpai?”

“What are you talking about?” His words held a note of panic. “Don’t play games right now, I need you to focus, okay?”

Her heart lifted, ridiculously grateful for his concern. The sensation was real enough to confuse her for an instant, though the smile that accompanied it was not.

[You, moron! I can’t make decisions like this. You have to command me!]

“If that's what you think is best, Van!”

He frowned. “I'm asking what you think is best.”

[No! Van, come on. Think!]

“Oh! I'm sorry I disappointed you. I'll do better!”

Cassie wanted to tear the words out of the air and crush them.

“I didn't say you disappointed me.”

She knew that. He knew that. Somewhere between her intention and her mouth, the Hotel had made an entirely different conversation.

Behind them a creature clawed free of the broken planter. Another climbed onto the railing overlooking the lower floor.

Three of the remaining Alters vaulted the barrier and landed on the lower level near the fountain. That left three upstairs, including the larger one picking its way around the broken bench toward Van. Cassie was tracking its approach when Van called her attention below.

Van hurried to the railing. “Cassie, look!”

She was tracking the other two, both recovering at the far end of the upper walkway. One was larger than the rest and had begun circling the overturned bench. She needed to keep eyes on it.

But Van had called her. He had given her a command. She turned and went to him, arriving at the railing before she fully realized her feet were moving.

Below, a group of women crowded behind the lowered security shutter of a hair salon. Cassie could make out faces through the narrow horizontal gaps, pale and frightened. A dozen, perhaps more. The three Alters were moving toward the storefront, drawn by the hands and faces visible between the slats.

“There's people down there,” Van said.

[I see them. We need to—]

“Oh, no! What should we do?”

Her eyes were locked where Van had told her to look. So she couldn’t watch the Alters approaching.

Something hit him from the side. The larger Alter from the upper walkway drove its shoulder into Van with a brutal crack, catching him above the waist and carrying him into the railing.

Gold flashed.

MASTER PROTECTION COMPROMISED

Protection Award Remaining: 2/3 VP

The railing tore loose with a shriek of tortured metal and the rumble of breaking stone. Van and the creature went over together.

For a heartbeat Cassie saw both shapes falling toward the lower floor. Van's arm flailed against the Alter's shoulder, his face twisted with something like pain. If they hit the tiles together, the monster's weight would crush him beneath it.

She was moving before the thought finished. She vaulted the broken rail. Orange-gold light burst behind her, a sharp controlled explosion that drove her downward faster than gravity. Wind tore at her bolero. She extended one hand toward Van and gathered a pulsing knot of plasma in the other.

The Alter twisted in the air, clawing for purchase on its victim. Cassie caught Van by the arm and pulled him hard against her. She tucked his head beneath her chin, turned her shoulder to take the change in momentum, and drove her charged plasma into the Alter's chest.

The explosion struck like a hammer. The creature was thrown off course by the force, striking a tall light fixture beside the fountain with a sharp popping sound before deflecting headfirst into the stone rim of the fountain.

ALTER DEFEATED

+1 VP

The recoil threw Cassie and Van sideways. She twisted to get between him and the stone edge, but she couldn't stop their fall entirely. They hit the fountain in an enormous splash.

Cold water closed over Cassie's head. Her boots scraped the bottom. She surfaced coughing, caught a glimpse of Van hauling himself upright, and reached for the basin's rim.

He was already turning toward her. “Cassie!”

[I'm here.]

“Oh, Master! Are you ok?”

He grabbed her forearm and pulled her out of the water. Together they staggered onto the wet tiles. Van was breathing hard. His uniform shirt hung in torn strips from his shoulders, shredded by the same explosion that had left his skin untouched. Cover Girl had done what it was supposed to do for his body, but apparently fabric wasn't worth protecting.

Cassie looked at his bare chest, then immediately up at his face.

[Are you hurt?] she intended to demand.

“Did I make my senpai worry?” she asked in a voice like warm syrup.

[Oh, for God's sake.]

Van rubbed his ribs. “That thing hit me pretty hard. I think I'm okay.” He glanced toward the salon. “But you need to watch those monsters.”

“Thank you for reminding me!” Cassie said, smiling.

She had seen Van fold under the tackle before he ever went over the railing. Had they reached the floor together, the fall could have killed him if not for Verena’s intervention. Instead of treating the situation like a major tactical failure, the imposed smile and foolishly cheerful voice made her concern sound like flirtation. She clenched her hands until the seams of her gloves pressed into her palms. Then she faced the salon, where people still needed them.

---

Across the concourse the three Alters stood near the shutter. One had its claws hooked beneath the bottom edge. The women inside cried out as the metal flexed.

Several phones were raised between the slats. Of course somebody was recording. A pink magical girl and a shirtless guy emerging from a fountain would probably be the most spectacular footage anybody in that salon had ever taken.

Cassie raised her hand. The plasma flared automatically as she faced the creatures.

“You creeps made a big mistake hurting my senpai!” she announced.

Her own ears wanted to crawl off her head. She would have killed for a plain, ordinary insult.

“Van, may I take care of them for you?”

He stared at her. “You don't have to ask. You know what you're doing better than I do.”

Yes. She did. She could take the center Alter first, drive it away from the shutter, then split the other two before they got through. Nothing complicated. She knew how much power the door could withstand.

She focused on the nearest creature. Her hand lowered. No. Not lowered. Paused. She could still feel the energy gathering beneath her skin, ready for her to shape it. But the next step refused to happen.

“I would never want to do anything so important without your guidance,” she told Van earnestly.

His eyes widened. “Cassie, I—”

A low growl interrupted him. The Alter nearest them sprang.

Van snatched a metal café chair from beside the fountain and drove its legs between himself and the beast. The creature struck the seat with enough force to make him stagger. He braced his back foot against the stone rim, arms rigid, keeping its reach beyond the improvised barrier.

Cassie knew he was buying time, not winning. His strength was impressive by ordinary standards, but the creature had weight and reach on its side. It repeatedly lunged for his face instead of pushing the chair aside, giving him a moment to shift the legs and recover his footing. Cassie searched for an angle that would finish the fight without catching Van in falling furniture. The monster changed direction abruptly, its attention settling squarely on him. She felt the old immediate certainty return: this was a threat she could answer.

“Cassie, do something!”

He shouldn't have needed to ask. The Alter slashed at his face over the back of the chair.

Cassie's restriction vanished beneath a rush of immediate danger. She stepped left and fired a bolt directly into the monster's head. It reeled, claws slipping off the metal. Van swung the chair, catching its shoulder with a crack that bent one leg. Cassie advanced, feeding the plasma in measured bursts while circling to keep the creature between herself and the empty concourse rather than between herself and Van.

It recovered enough to swipe at her. She ducked and countered with two sharp explosions against its ribs. Cassie circled toward the fountain, aware of Van behind the creature even when she couldn't see him clearly. She kept the line of fire angled away from his face and the women in the salon. The next burst forced the monster's head down, and Van used the opening to strike with the chair. The metal frame came apart on the final blow, but the Alter was already falling.

ALTER DEFEATED

+1 VP

Four down. Two remained below, and the other two were still upstairs, visible beyond the broken railing. They prowled the edge of the upper floor, snarling at the movement beneath them without finding a safe route down.

Cassie turned toward the salon. Both lower-level Alters had reached the shutter. One punched a hole through the metal. The other ripped a long strip loose, and a woman's scream rose from inside.

One Alter reached through the torn shutter toward a woman trying to drag a customer away. Cassie immediately fired a short defensive burst, forcing its arm back through the opening. At last her body had obeyed her without waiting for Van's voice. But the creatures were recovering, and she needed to draw both of them away from the storefront rather than keep firing toward the civilians.

She selected the new maneuver and stepped toward the angle that would make them follow. Then her body refused to take the next step.

“Van!” She heard the pleading sweetness of her voice and wanted to scream. “Could you please tell me what to do?”

“Stop them!” he shouted, dropping the remains of the chair.

Permission snapped into place and Cassie fired into the nearer creature's side, hard enough to knock it across the floor but not hard enough to put a hole in the storefront behind it. She followed with a second bolt that forced the other away from the shutter.

“Why are you waiting for me?” Van demanded. “You can see what's happening.”

[Because the stupid curse won't let me.]

“I'm under a witch's curse, silly!” she said, the answer arriving with a bright, miserable smile. “I need my senpai to guide me.”

He stared at her, eyes wide. For the first time since the transformation began, Cassie saw the whole thing connect in his expression: the questions she hadn't meant to ask, the apologies that made no sense, the way she could protect him or the women in immediate danger but couldn't choose a new objective for herself. He looked at her ready hand, where an orange-gold spark still flickered, and finally understood what the hesitation had cost her.

“You actually need permission?”

She nodded.

“Of course, Master,” she chirped. “I can protect you if you're in danger. But other than that, I’d never act without your say-so.”

“That's horrible.” He rubbed a hand across his forehead.

“I still get ideas,” she managed. “But they’re silly. I need you to guide me.”

Van looked toward the storefront. “Ok, let’s lead them away. They can’t get to the people if they’re chasing us.” He looked around frantically for inspiration.

“Bring them toward the fountain,” he continued, glancing at the spraying water. “But don't get close enough for them to grab you.”

Cassie nodded. It wasn't quite how she'd have phrased the maneuver, but it was sound. She'd already been trying to pull the monsters into open space.

She moved backward, flicking stinging bolts toward the creatures. Each hit was deliberately weak. Enough to make them angry, enough to convince them she was retreating, but not enough to drive them away towards easier prey. The first struck the nearer Alter's shoulder. It roared and came after her. The second followed, vaulting the wreckage of a kiosk.

Behind the shutter, phones tracked the movement. Cassie caught snatches of voices as she passed.

“He took that explosion—”

“Is he Empowered?”

“Did you see him fight that thing?”

She almost laughed. Van had wrestled an Alter with café furniture and survived an explosion because her transformation had excluded him from the damage. To the women inside, that must look like something else entirely.

Van hurried to put the fountain between himself and the approaching monsters. He kept glancing around at the damage from their previous fight, something calculated in his expression.

The creatures accelerated. Their claws struck sparks from the floor.

“That's far enough,” Van called. “Stop firing for a second. Get ready to move.”

Cassie let the plasma fade from her palms. Her forearms ached with the accumulated heat of the earlier volleys. She welcomed the brief rest.

Both Alters gathered at the basin's edge. Van circled the fountain near the fallen Alter. He planted his feet and waited for the monsters to commit to their attack on Cassie.

Once the charging Alters were committed, he called out, “Cassie, jump!”

She sprang to one side, clearing the lip of the fountain to land near Van, who had lowered his shoulder.

“Cassie!” he yelled, pointing down. “The base!”

She looked down and saw the mounting bracket for the fixture was warped from the falling Alter’s impact. She understood his plan and drew crackling power from the air like a stage magician. She threw the humming ball of power at the base of the pole, just as Van moved.

He threw himself against the standing light fixture just as the plasma burst with a sharp crack. The explosion at his feet washed upwards from the ground with that electric warmth he was learning to anticipate. The force that cracked concrete, bent steel, and powdered glass greeted his skin like a caress. His clothing wasn’t so lucky. Parts of his boots peeled away from the blast and strips were torn from his pants.

As the monsters thrashed across the fountain, the bent fixture broke free of its mounting with a sudden groan. The top of the fixture crashed into the water, shattering on the stone centerpiece and exposing the torn wiring within.

A sharp electrical crack snapped through the atrium. Blue-white flashes danced at the broken housing, and the fountain lights went out. The two Alters had already committed to their approach through the water. Their bodies locked and collapsed before a distant breaker snapped open, leaving the fixture dark and the fountain’s pump shuddering to a halt.

ALTER DEFEATED

+1 VP

ALTER DEFEATED

+1 VP

---

For a moment the mall seemed unnaturally quiet. Water trickled down the broken stonework.

Van stumbled clear of the falling column and stood with one hand braced against the wall, breathing hard.

He looked up at her. “We did it?”

Her smile arrived before she could decide what expression she wanted.

“My hero!” she cried. “Senpai, that was amazing!”

She hurried toward him with her arms lifted as if to throw herself into a celebratory embrace. Van took one uncertain step back.

Cassie stopped herself short, almost colliding with him. She planted her feet and pointed accusingly at his chest.

[How dare he!] she wanted to yell.

“You're so brave, Senpai,” she said, clasping her hands beneath her chin.

“Please stop calling me that,” Van muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

Cassie smiled wider. It was an unfortunate side effect of the curse that she was beginning to understand precisely how much this bothered him.

He looked at the ruined fountain. “We should check the people in the salon.”

The salon's security shutter hung in bent strips. Through the largest gap Cassie could see two women crouching beside a customer on the floor. Someone had wrapped a towel around the customer's wrist. A woman in a dark apron stood guard by the damaged shutter with a pair of hairdresser's shears in her hand, looking determined despite the tremor in her fingers. Others stood nearer the front, still holding their phones.

“Are you all right?” Van asked.

The woman in the apron lowered the shears. “We are now. Thank you. Nobody's badly hurt, I think.” She glanced back at the customer on the floor, who gave a shaky nod.

Another peered out at him. Her gaze traveled over his bare chest and the strips of ruined shirt.

“What's your name?” Her question was breathless.

“Van.”

“Are you Empowered?” a younger woman asked. “You got hit by that explosion, and then you fought one of those things. I saw it.”

“No, I'm not—”

“Oh, he's much too modest!” Cassie interrupted.

She hadn't intended to speak at all. The words came out accompanied by a little affectionate laugh.

Van closed his eyes in instant exhaustion.

“He's something much better than Empowered,” she continued.

Every face behind the shutter turned toward her. Cassie could feel the ridiculous smile forming. She could feel her hand rise into the same two-finger pose she'd been forced to perform upstairs.

“He's Van!”

The silence that followed was extraordinary.

“What does that mean?” someone asked.

“That's a secret!” Cassie sang.

Van made a sound that might have been despair.

He stepped closer to the gap in the shutter. “Listen. There are still monsters in the mall. Get into the back room, away from the front windows. Don't come out until you know it's safe.”

The woman in the apron nodded at once. She began ushering the others away from the damaged entrance. A few lingered, still looking at Van as if he might produce a second miracle if they watched long enough.

“Thank you,” one called.

Cassie waved. It was a small, cute flutter of her fingers. She could have bitten them off. When the last woman had disappeared from sight, Cassie turned slowly toward Van.

She jabbed a finger toward him, furious at the little bow that decorated her glove. “You think this is funny?”

“Honestly?” He held up both hands defensively. “Yes. It was awful and I hate they did it to you, but it WAS funny.” When she started to form her response, he rushed to continue. “At least it’s almost over.”

The answer took some of the force out of her anger.

Cassie studied him. His hair was wet. His shirt was wrecked. He'd shown real bravery and resourcefulness, and he had the nerve to stand there enjoying her embarrassment.

He was a good friend. An infuriating one. She wanted to say that much, perhaps without the last word.

“I'm so lucky to have you,” she told him instead.

Oh, she was going to strangle somebody when this wore off.

Gold screens opened between them.

CHALLENGE COMPLETE

ALTERS DEFEATED: 6

MASTER PROTECTION: 2/3 VP

CHALLENGE AWARD: 8 VP

White light began to gather at their feet.

Van looked at the score, then at Cassie. “Eight. That's good, right?”

[Could've had ten if the cursed costume hadn't—]

“I'm happy as long as you're proud of me!” she said.

The transport light rose around their knees. Cassie felt the same pressure beneath her skin that had held her in the magical-girl pose at the start. She folded her arms as tightly as she could, fighting the urge to clasp her hands and smile again.

Van watched her for another moment. Then, just before the light reached their faces, he said, “You know, you're cute when you're angry.”

Cassie stamped one pink boot against the floor.

Her mouth formed an outraged pout. Her hands curled beneath her chin, and a helpless little sound escaped her throat. She was still trying to swear at him when the mall vanished.