Becoming Monsters: In the Mirror Ch. 14

This is still a story of the Becoming Monsters universe by Ai Loves, setting used with permission. All canonical and mechanical errors are my own. The yarrb is the creation of FelisRandomis, used with permission.

Definitely had some inspiration from a certain popular show for this one. If you think you recognize it, it's probably because you do.

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Chapter 14: Wait For It

I felt pain. Endless pain, encompassing my entire being. I felt like I could barely draw breath, every attempt feeling like my entire chest was shattering. Against the blackness that I felt like I was drowning in, I caught flashes and impressions. A bright red line. The sound of glass shattering. Screams of pain and fear. The smells of cat and bone and yarrb. Flashing lights, strobing darkness. Motion, speech, and pressure. Then, endless nothing, as my brain surrendered to the agony.

It may have been minutes or years later that I opened my eyes, the sterile white light stabbing them, driving fiery spikes of pain straight through my skull. My grunt felt like my throat and lungs lit on fire to do it, I wanted to writhe in pain but was too weak to do anything but moan piteously. There was a flurry of activity, forms I could hardly make out, voices asking desperate questions, others offering unsure answers.

One felt familiar. I held on to that one as I grayed out again.

The next time I opened my eyes, it didn't feel like the light fixtures were trying to murder me. I could hear a gruff voice telling someone off for misidentification of... me? I could see the ceiling tiles now, the curtains. The bed felt hard, the sheets rough but light. Now the lighting made sense, this was the hospital. Main building.

I tried to sit up. It didn't work. My head lolled to the side, and there sat the most beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on. Red skin, horns, amber eyes staring at me intently. My wife. I managed a raspy vocalization, my throat felt raw and dry. She scrambled forward, tears in her eyes, arms on me.

A doctor on a cane came into the room. "He's awake?" I managed a grunt and a nod. "You probably feel like you got dragged over broken glass mouth-first right now. Working on that, the hard part was keeping you alive. You're allowed to drink water, but sip it." The man... Dr. Abode, I think I met him before... held down a button that lifted my back until I was sitting approximately upright. My arm felt heavy, strung with monitors and an IV, but I managed a few sips of water. Swallowing was an unexpected agony, but it helped.

"How long was I out, Doctor?"

"Wasting no time, I see. You got here about four in the morning, it's noon now. You got to within two percent HP from death, if it hadn't been for your frantic wife, a nurse nearly as frantic, and three more demonesses committing only-mostly-figurative mayhem on people who delayed things? You'd be gone. That blast you took was one of the nastiest status debuffs I've ever seen. A doctor from the Curse Annex came over to help with you specifically, she says you're even now."

I coughed. Ow. Whatever cosmic favor I had been building up, it was gone now. Spent. If I hadn't had both the Regeneration ability and Recovery from literally twelve hours prior, combined with people who knew me well and owed me big, I'd be explaining myself to my maker. I pulled up my Status, my everything was still registering critically low. "I can't stay here long, Doc."

"You can and you will. Don't think you can make it to the door, no matter how tough you think you are."

"That's not it. That was a mob attack, they will be after me to complete the hit. Also, my Hunger burned nearly out while I've been unconscious. I might be okay for today, I won't be tomorrow."

"Oh, we're well aware of both parts of that. Demonics all burn their stores like water when they're close to death. Lieutenant Richards from the station house is on this case, I expect him to be here soon. Right after lunch, which should be on the way and about three times what your neighbors get."

"I don't recognize that name."

"It is a bit concerning that you recognize enough of them to find not recognizing one surprising."

"There's usually a Sergeant Mann on my case. Both literally and figuratively." Not that I wanted to see him, of course, but changes were not a thing I wanted to deal with.

"Ah, about that. You came in ranting in your sleep. Seems that a significant part of it was about how he was not to be trusted. You seem to be recovering for now, I'll be back later." He hobbled off.

Lucy was hugging me again. It was nice. There were reassurances there, some words, but mostly just feeling each others' hearts beat. Knowing we were still there to do it. The moment did have to end, this time as food was wheeled in. I rag on hospital food, but I'll give them the fact that they knew I'd need a lot of it. Between bites of plain but filling fare, I got around to actually asking questions. "How are you? How are the others?"

"Worried sick about you. None of us got really hurt. Whitney got a few claw marks, Gloria and Sarah got bitten but are fine. I was untouched besides rubble."

"You can't just end on the word RUBBLE. We were fighting in our home."

"Not much left of the apartment, Jay. It got wrecked by skeletal beasts, energy blasts, fire, and when I shot that Catgirl out of the window."

"She dead?"

"No, landed on her feet and got clear, we were too busy dealing with portals. Sarah managed to do her Disenchant thing to them. Recovered a couple of anticrystals, too, they were made by items and not a spell. Good call on that."

"I spotted her class. Wish I'd gotten a better read on her level." I coughed again, painfully, but I could feel the food already making a difference. I felt stuffed a bit over halfway through... but having seen what Gloria and Whitney could do, I figured it was just a matter of time. "Where are you all sleeping tonight?"

"Emily's. It's tight, but we're managing it. Sarah is making a bag that's larger on the inside, says it won't last forever but doesn't have to. Soon as the police are done, we'll go clean out the wreckage, starting with the equipment closet."

"Police?"

"Our place is an active crime scene..." she drifted off. Time had run out, someone knocked on the door, then walked in without waiting for a response. An older gentleman, of middling height, skin darkly tanned and deeply lined but with almost pure white hair, walked in. He was in full uniform, but curiously was not armed.

"Lieutenant Richards, I assume? Apologies that I can't stand at the moment. Happens to the best of us."

When he spoke, his voice was a shockingly low bass rumble. He sounded like he came with subwoofers pre-installed. "You accused one of my best men of compromise, I'm here to find out if you know something I don't or if you're slandering his good name."

Woof. Okay, and here I thought Whitney was direct. "I have one question to start that conversation, then." He tilted his head a bit. I took it as permission to continue. "Does Sergeant Paul Mann own a cat?"

Lucy looked at me as if she knew that she should be making a connection somewhere. I didn't blame her, the connection was one I'd made while unable to talk about it coherently.

"Not to my knowledge, but I fail to see the relevance."

"If you will permit me one further question, then. Is the name Julia Aster familiar to you? If so, don't explain how."

He nodded.

"The Black Cat Julia Aster attacked my Guild in my home last night, in retaliation for stopping two bank robberies she is connected to, and her smell matched one I've detected on Sergeant Mann. Just before lunch, at the OPP office. I was turning in a couple of bounties."

There was silence for a moment. Lucy had a look on her face like she wished I'd told her earlier. Honestly, I did, too, but time limits. The policeman looked like he was choosing his words, extremely carefully. "You really have no idea what you just told me. How are you certain?"

I didn't hesitate. "I am a registered Delver with the Mirror class and Scan ability. I make a habit of ripping information off of people who attack me. You know, in case the fight continues, or in case of conversations like this one."

"Would you be willing to swear to this under compulsion to speak the truth?"

That, though, was a horrifying thought. Once you agreed to it, police could (and had) gotten a lot more out of people than the interviewees had intended. "I would want legal representation, the ability to still take the Fifth, and a pre-written set of questions, Officer, but in that case yes."

His eyes narrowed. I thought I saw something there, a glint of the light that wasn't properly accounted for by the hospital itself. I looked at my wife. "Lucile, you'd back me up with what you saw, right?"

She nodded, focusing. "Yes, of course. I'm not apologizing for self-defense, though."

Lieutenant Richards looked at her, as well, seeming to really take her in for the first time. "You seem a bit paranoid to have that ready off the top of your head."

"No offense, but I've had pistols and rifles from teams of yours pointed at me multiple times in the last ten days, I just got attacked in my home, and I'm making a credible accusation of corruption or mob compromise, after your men have been trying to bring me in for questioning without an active warrant or subpoena. If anything, willingly talking to you at all shows that I'm not being paranoid enough."

I reached for my next sandwich. Regeneration was working overtime, and I'd gone from full to hungry again in less time than I would have believed possible.

"And you seem to think this will make a difference, why?"

I chewed carefully and swallowed. Throat was dry again all of a sudden. "Sir, I am the one thing in life I can control. Nobody has my particular combination of abilities, knowledge, and circumstances, and to the best of my knowledge nobody ever has, either. Might be stuck in bed, but that doesn't mean this conversation doesn't have importance."

"Fine. I'm obviously not going to tell you to come to the station house in your present state, but don't be surprised if you get asked a lot more pointed questions by people in uniform." He turned and left, almost as abruptly as the doctor. I took a few more bites of food.

Lucy sighed. "He was absolutely using an ability there at the end. I don't know what it was."

See, here's the thing. Sorcerers get a bad rap for a lot of reasons, but one of these is that most of them simply cannot directly see thaumic energies. They are like a deaf person composing a symphony, and I was counting on that reputation. Lucy, however, had just picked up Cantrips this week, and among them was a subtle spell that did just the trick. When I used her full first name, she knew we were about to pass hidden messages, and she got it in one.

I did mention I love her, right?

"Hope he enjoyed whatever it was he got out of it. That problem is far from over, but we can't do anything about it for now. Almost forgot to ask... Doc said something about mayhem? Anything I need to know about?"

"Jabbing you with Gargoyle meds might have killed you. Whitney did not take it well."

"Ah, that makes sense. Who stopped her?"

"Would you believe herself? Lifted the paramedic up by his neck, but set him down after he got the point. Speaking of points, what is your Hunger at?"

I checked again. Not good. "Low. Very low."

"Low as in 'I hope they release me soon' or 'Kitsune blowjobs in a closet' low?"

"Okay, I deserved that, but unfortunately the latter. Don't even know if the equipment is going to be functional, which is an issue I didn't anticipate ever having to deal with."

She was worried for me, but looked at the door. Nobody was expected for a bit. Lucy stood, casually walked over, and closed it, then pulled the curtains. "One way to find out, and give some breathing room with it." Off came her shirt, off came her bra, her breasts bouncing free. She swayed over, making sure to give them that extra jiggle she knew how to do, and I could immediately feel pieces of me proving that they were still perfectly functional. I was erect and pointed almost straight upwards in seconds, and my wife absolutely helped herself to it.

Her lips were soft, her tongue talented, her breasts and hands rubbing where she knew she could gain maximum effect. It only took a few minutes before she felt me getting close and dove in. I came down her throat, deeply and powerfully, and felt the nagging background of hunger fade in a way that lunch could not satisfy. In record time, Lucy was borrowing a napkin to daintily dab her lips, then had her clothes back on, the curtain back where it belonged, and was back in the seat next to my bed like nothing had happened.

I was still coming down off of that high, focusing on getting my heart rate back to normal. It was visible on the monitors, after all. Lucy didn't even hesitate. "I'll have to set up a rotation or something. The only cute demon nurse on staff is already on the team."

"This is a bit of a change in outlook for you, love."

She suddenly had tears in her eyes again. "No." Her voice was choking on other emotions. "It isn't. It is life and death, Jay. It always has been, for both of us. If I could rub a lamp and make a wish, it would still be to make us both able to sustain each other. I still want three kids and a white picket fence, dangit. I still want to be with you and only you. I still want you to be mine alone, but we can't have that. I have to settle, and if that means a few others who can form a tight circle, I'll take it. It's better than flipping my skirts for anyone with a few hundred to spare. It's better than watching you almost die."

The tears were freely flowing by now, and coherent words stopped as she sobbed on my chest. The wires and IVs made it nearly impossible for me to hold her in my arms, but I did what I could. Her phone rang, eventually. She was needed back at the crime scene. Our apartment. What was left of it, anyway. Sadly, she left then.

Well, I always figured we wouldn't get the deposit back. I was unbelievably tired, given that I had only woken up a small bit ago. Orderlies came in to check on me, apparently happy with what they found. Bored out of my mind, I slept some more. I woke to an aching body and growling belly, the sun setting outside. Whitney was in the chair next to me, keeping an eye on me. Lucy must have felt I needed the security. Once she made sure I had food, she did her best to sate my Hunger as well. I wasn't exactly resisting. I ate, we talked, I passed out again.

When I opened my eyes once more, the room was dark. I was alone. A few other things had changed. I was hurting much, much less, for one. The IV lines had been disconnected, bandages were on my arms where they had been. The monitors, too, had been taken off. I was able to move much more freely. Beside my bed, on a small table on wheels, was a backpack and my phone. A small sticky note was on the phone. "Just in case. -Emily." From the feel of certain parts of me, she had also Fed me, not needing or able to wait for me to wake. I checked my Status screen. Full mana and stamina. 36% Health. 8% Hunger. Honestly, I'd been worse on a normal day, before. Why did I feel like I had been run over by a sixteen-wheeler?

Inside the backpack, I found a notepad and pencils. A couple of snacks and toiletries. A change of clothes, the phone's charger. Most interesting, I found my unfolding baton, something I was more than slightly certain I was not supposed to have... especially when I spotted a new carving on its tip, and the letter J engraved on the pommel. It moved differently, felt like... the momentum enchantment from Whitney's sword. I was comforted by its presence, and that of my Gold Battery next to it. Obligingly, I siphoned off half of my full pool into charging it to maximum. Just in case.

The phone itself had more notifications on it than I could remember it ever having. Guildsmen, coders, Red Lighters, neighbors, family. Police. Word had spread quickly in the 20-ish hours since the attack. I was not feeling tired, so I got to answering them. Reassurances that I was alright, though hospitalized. Directing a few close confidants where and how to help. Putting out word of the Black Cat and her capabilities.

Swiping left on the police messages to trash them once I verified there was nothing that needed my immediate attention. They knew how to find me.

The sky outside was beginning to lighten by the time I was done catching up. Tentatively, I stood. I stretched. The process sounded a lot like a bowl of cereal after you pour milk into it, and I was sore everywhere, but really? I could defend myself against an invader. Heck, even if it happened right now, I was in my hospital gown instead of being completely nude. Step up from the last time.

My wings could fully extend. I did not see any significant tears in them, range of motion checked out. I could escape to the rooftops if need be. Last check, I grasped the baton in my hand and flicked it open.

Then I had to try again, because it took way more force than I was used to. In the back of my head, I chalked it up to the enchantment. Definitely not the near-death experience. Nope. Certainly not.

It swung... oddly. Mine was larger than many models to begin with, because I could. Now? It effectively massed about as much as a full greatsword, though the compact dimensions meant that I had more control of it than you might expect. I could understand why Whitney's muscles got as cramped up as they did when she was practicing with her own sword, I'd be afraid to even try to swing that thing if this is what it did to a baton.

My SP was draining much faster than I thought it would during the practice, so I kept it light on both sides. Didn't want to overdo it. I laid back in my bed, and practiced with Shapechange internally. If I was going to be tanking hits like that again, I needed to be ready. Turning bones to harder substances sounded much easier than it turned out to be, I had to settle for researching the structures of tougher animals and trying to figure out how to apply them to myself. I did not get far before passing back out.

The sun was fully up when I got myself fully checked out and cleared, with an admonishment not to overdo things for a while. Really, I do not understand why they bother telling people that one. If someone was going to be near-dead and go run a marathon 36 hours later, a wagging finger wasn't going to stop them. I was greeted by Lucy and Nibbles in the lobby, in my jeans and white polo. Baton in one pocket, phone in the other. We walked to Emily's apartment... which, I guess, was our base of ops for now.

It was a quiet kind of walk, a casual intimacy. I just wish it was in better circumstances, but at least we were all together and alive. The tears had been shed. The scars were healing. We paused in the lobby of the apartment building, and just hugged. I let myself relax. I had Lucy with me. No matter what else happened, that is what mattered.

The small apartment, meant for one or two, was predictably full to bursting with its current occupants and the mounds of stuff we had rescued from the old place. Emily was on shift, Whitney out at the old apartment keeping an eye on things. Sarah was frantically creating, her Aura a weak flicker. Gloria, too, was alternating between helping Sarah and arranging the place to make it possible to coexist for a bit. They both stopped instantly when we walked in, and came in for aggressively powerful hugs. I was just glad I could give them.

I noticed something, then. Both of their Auras seemed to sync up in a way with Lucy's. When they weren't next to her, though? They were out of tune. Another thing I'd need to see about figuring out, now that I wasn't locked in the hospital. "Sarah. Have you slept at all since yesterday?"