Frostfire Unbound

The next day was one of feverish activity. Henry made good on his promise and retrieved something which Redwing had set aside for a rainy day. She was a veteran hero, after all and had long since learned that having caches of supplies and useful items stored carefully throughout the city was something that any hero should consider doing. The device in question was a metal sphere which fit into the palm of her hand. It had a loop of elastic which she stretched around the back of her palm. The machine was a little something she'd had Gadget cook up a few years ago. The sort of multi-purpose tool which you usually didn't need but which was suddenly vitally important when you did. She was glad she had now. The machine cast a calming blue light as she ran it back and forth over Frostfire's collar.

"What are you doing?"The other heroine was twitchy. They both knew that Dogma would likely have some game planned for them today. Using the device was risky even with Henry covering for them on the cameras.

"Scanning your collar," Lilly said. "I had Gadget throw this together. it's an electronic multi-tool. Designed to scan and manipulate other pieces of technology. I'm trying to figure out if I can find a way to disable your collar."

Holly shifted in her seat.

"So what're the chances of it malfunctioning and blowing me up?" She smiled weakly.

"Hopefully, low." Lilly said. "Gadget made it and he knows what he's doing when it comes to tech. His power is some weird symbiosis thing. He understand technology intuitively. That's why this scanner can even work at all. Right now, it's probing the collar. Trying to learn how it works. Once it does that it can interface with it. Try to turn it off."

Frostfire shook her head.

"I'd do anything to get out of this damned collar, but what are our options once it works? If it works, I mean."

"It'll work," Lilly reassured her hoping that she wasn't a liar. "And once it does, I say we lay in wait for a bit. We could make a run for it right away but then I'd have to face the Shadow Lady as well as any other villains that Dogma has gathered. He has a few, right?"

"A few, yeah," Holly agreed. "No one super high tier, but he has some muscle besides just Dusklord's mother. Which, you know, is a sentence I am never going to forget I had to say."

Lilly snorted, smiling in spite of the situation.

"Dusklord is coming," She promised. "He wouldn't abandon me here, trust me on that. When he does, I say we make our move too. I _can _beat the Shadow Lady but maybe not if I am also fighting half a dozen other villains at the same time. So Dusklord is a distraction. Don't worry, he can take it. Between him and me, as well as you, we can corner Dogma and put an end to this whole thing."

"You make that sound so normal," Frostfire sighed. "Like we're not totally naked in a cell because some villain wants to make us into sex slaves. Believe me, this is not something I am going to be having in my autobiography."

"First time for me too," Lilly replied. "I'm finding it weird too. It's not like we can really not look at each other, though. Besides, we've seen one another changing enough times before. It's not like either of us don't know what the other looks like nude."

"That's true," Holly bit her lower lip. "This really is weirdly like old times. Except for the slave thing."

Lilly chuckled.

"It is weirdly good to be working together again. Even in a situation like this."

The machine gave a soft beep suddenly. The light flashed from blue to green and Lilly stepped back. Holly tensed and then, when she failed to horribly detonate, gave a sigh of relief.

"Did it work?"

"Seems that way," Lilly smirked. "Your collar should be disabled now. I'm glad Henry came through with one of my requests. Dogma could have used you as a hostage against me at any point but now you should be safe. That's one more of his levers against us removed. Now all we need to do is wait for Dusklord to cause a distraction and isolate Dogma. Then I can take down the Lady in Shadow. Holly, do you think you can handle Dogma on your own?"

The other woman turned to look at her. "Why are you asking?"

"Well, I can take the Lady in Shadow but last time we fought, I had to cause a lot of collateral damage. No one got hurt because it was in an isolated area but if I did that here I doubt we'd be so lucky. So I am going to have to fight her without that and while I can still win, it'll take longer. Dogma might try to slip away if Dusklord gets sidetracked or delayed by his forces. But you're the one he's not going to expect to trick him. You're broken, remember? So all you have to do is get close to him and bring him down. If you think you can."

"Dogma is a lot weaker now," Frostfire mused. "When I fought him before, I almost had him. Right up until that shadow woman ambushed me and it turned into a two against one. I think... no, I know that I can take him if it's just the two of us."

"Good." Lilly sat back. "Then we have a solid plan on how to flip this whole thing. All we have to do is wait for our chance. I'm sure it won't be long in coming."