Before these past ten minutes or so had happened, I would’ve thought the idea of standing between Casura and the door she wanted to go through was idiotic. And, well, obviously impossible. I wouldn’t have lasted long enough to even think ‘this is a stupid idea’ before being turned into a smear on the wall with a single flick of her finger. Standing in that woman’s way was a more obvious way to commit suicide than jumping off the top of the Empire State Building. Though come to think of it, that actually sounded fun. A hell of a lot more fun than opposing her.

  But things were different now, at least inside here. It was obvious that Mental Casura, or maybe Tiebreaker Casura-- Nah, Casura was just fine as a name. It was obvious that Casura couldn’t do much inside this mental space. She didn’t seem to be able to actually use any of the powers or anything. I was pretty sure that the whole disappearing and reappearing trick she’d done before was more a product of being able to manipulate her appearance and location inside this virtual construct, rather than actually utilizing a stolen power. Without that, and the use of those zombies (who didn’t seem to be able to actually come in this place), she was just an ordinary woman.

  So, I stayed in her path while she glared at me until the other two were… uhh, finished. In that time, I kept glancing at the view in the windows whenever I wasn’t meeting Casura’s hard stare. Things out there weren’t just slowed down anymore, they were completely frozen. For whatever reason, maybe because we were more firmly in control over Casura now, things out there had just fully stopped. I could even see smoke frozen in the air, along with a lightning bolt that had been sailing through the air, a foot to the side of Sierra. Absolutely nothing was happening out there. Which was kind of the only reason I was actually even somewhat okay with waiting patiently.

  Speaking of which, those two finally came up for air after another minute or so. Julie was blushing, clearing her throat as she looked over at me. “I-- uh, right, sorry. You, um, okay?”

  I gave her a thumbs up, unable to stop myself from replying, “I thought about stepping in when it looked like she was trying to eat your tongue, but then I decided you could handle it yourself.”

  Muttering something under her breath, Octavia took a step away from the other woman and shot me a quick squint. “Yeah, well, never mind that. Your friends out there are still fine, aren’t they?”

  I didn’t even need to look that way, considering I'd been staring at the view that whole time, looking for the slightest twitch of movement from anyone or anything out there. “You know, I wouldn't use the word fine. They're in pretty rough shape, actually. Some more than others. But they're all alive, and we have a healer now. So no, definitely not fine. But at least they'll live. Still, I think it'll be better if I can get out there and let them know they don't need to fight anymore.”

  I let that hang for a second before pointedly asking, “They don't need to fight anymore, right?” I really needed to hear them say it out loud, even with everything that had already happened. Call me paranoid, but still. Maybe the fact that I was willing to take their word for it at all was enough.

  Those two exchange brief glances before Octavia cleared her throat. “Yes, yes, for what it's worth, you have my word that we won't do anything to hurt you or your friends. We owe you that much. I mean, I owe you that much, for getting me this far.” She looked visibly uncomfortable at having to say that, but pushed on anyway. “I can't really make up for what happened, but whatever. You'll just have to make do with that promise. If it's not good enough, you can just--”

  “It's good enough,” I interrupted quickly. Octavia seemed like the type of person who easily worked herself up into anger without too much provocation. Especially if she was embarrassed or uncomfortable. I was just going to have to accept her word for the time being, and hope that Casura over there didn’t convince her to go back on it. God, this whole situation was fucked up.

  Pushing off that thought, I continued. “Thanks, I-- yeah, thanks. I know this is a lot for you to take in too.” I felt so fucking ridiculous saying that. Just how much of an understatement was it? Could I win some sort of award for that? It just sounded incredibly awkward, but I said it anyway.

  Fortunately, the only response Octavia had to that was a brief snort. Most of her attention was on Casura, whom she gave a hard stare before announcing, “As for you, bitch, here’s a new rule, you don’t get to talk unless it’s for a vote. And you don’t get to leave this room. All in favor?”

  My vote probably didn’t matter that much, if at all, but I still said yes anyway, just to get it on the record. Obviously, Casura voted against. That made it three to one, so the bitch was officially incapable of talking. I’d sure heard of worse uses of democracy. After everything that happened, it was pretty nice to see a look of frustration and rage on her face as her mouth stayed shut.

  The sight of the so-called tiebreaker being unable to say anything made Octavia give a small, satisfied smile. “Okay then, step one of making this damn place livable, check. Time for step two.” She paused briefly before amending, “Okay, my preferred step two was to throw that cunt into a volcano, but since it won’t work, we’ll just slide right into step three. I’ve had just about e-goddamn-nough of living in a trashy city for the time being. I’m thinking of a mountain cabin.” The woman glanced over at Julie, adding, “Remember that one you talked about before, when you were going on and on about skiing with that dipshit Clyde, Cliff, whatever his name was?”

  A faint pink blush came to Julie’s face, as she gave a soft cough. “Um, his name was Devon.”

  Octavia shrugged. “Eh, I was within one letter in the alphabet. Close enough. No one cares about Devon anymore. He’s old news, doesn’t matter. But that cabin in the mountains, can you picture it? Focus real hard on it and like… I dunno, make it appear on the wall over there or something. I’ve got an idea. If this is my power-- I mean, if my power made this place, I should be able to change it. I’ll make it look the way I want it to look. But I, uh, think I could use some help with that.” Her eyes shifted over my way to add, “You help me with this and we’ll figure out how to hand your power back to you and send you out of here all safe and sound, okay, kid?”

  Well, what else could I do but agree to that? The outside world was basically frozen right then (or, to be more accurate, this place was going so quickly that the world out there seemed to be frozen in comparison), so there wasn’t anything I had to deal with immediately. Besides, in the long run, it was probably best that I do everything possible to make Octavia grateful. As much as I desperately wanted to get out there and check on everyone, and let them know things were going to be okay, I could wait a little bit longer if it meant leaving here on somewhat good terms. Oh yeah, and getting my powers back. That’d be a good thing too. Yeah, I could deal with this.

  Giving a quick nod after letting that run through my mind briefly, I replied, “Sure, but do you think changing everything like that is as easy as just imagining really hard at this place or something?”

  She, in turn, shrugged. “I dunno, kid, I just feel like that’s how it works. It’s how I’ve felt ever since I came into this control room. It was vague at first, but… yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s right.”

  That was enough for me to at least give it a shot. And it was clearly more than enough for Julie, who had already closed her eyes to focus intently on those memories. As she did so, the wall nearby actually did start to shift and change. It happened quickly enough to startle me, my gaze snapping that way just in time to see an absolutely gorgeous image appear, like a photograph. It showed a cabin nestled on the side of a snowy mountain with pine trees all around it, taller, majestic peaks in the background, lightly falling snow all around, and a beautiful rising sun in the corner. There was smoke coming out of the chimney, several snowmobiles parked around the front area, and a couple figures sitting on the porch with what looked like coffee or hot chocolate. It only took me a second to realize the two were supposed to be Julie and Octavia.

  To be honest, the place looked a fair bit like a few different places I'd been on vacation with my family. Actually, it reminded me of one of our skiing lodges, though somewhat smaller. Which was a thought that I quickly shoved out of my mind so I could focus on the image in front of me. Besides, thinking about those vacations made me think about my family, and that just opened up a whole crapton of feelings that I really didn't want to get into right then. They weren't exactly helpful for what we were doing.

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  In the background, I could see Casura roll her eyes at the image. She was clearly unimpressed. Or maybe she was just being a petulant child upset that she wasn't getting her way. She folded her arms after a couple failed attempts to say something, and looked even more annoyed. Not that I cared how she was feeling.

  Octavia, on the other hand, stepped right up to the image on the wall and ran her fingers along it. I could hear her breathe in and out slowly as she absorbed the sight of it before smiling just a little. “Yeah, that's the place. That's perfect. I'm done with this city. Time for a vacation.”

  With that, she looked at Julie and me. “Right, I'm kinda making this up as we go. But I think we just need to focus on that image and imagine all of this shit around us turning into that. Just picture that happening, or something. Think real hard about it. We'll see what happens.”

  That last bit sounded awkward from her. I could tell she was sort of embarrassed and uncertain about the whole thing in general, let alone needing to ask for help to make it happen. Shockingly, the woman who called herself Bloodfall wasn't big on politely asking for assistance. But she was still a huge upgrade from Casura, so I wasn't exactly going to quibble about saying please, or anything like that.

  We focused on the image. The three of us did, anyway. Casura clearly didn't have any interest in pitching in. And yes, I was worried about what she would get up to once I left this place. She would keep trying to convince Octavia to agree with her, and between the two of them, they could do anything they wanted. Julie wouldn't be able to stop them. But there wasn't really anything I could do about that. Even if I chose to give up my freedom completely and stayed in this place so Julie and I could keep voting together, that would only lead to a tie. Which Casura was meant to break.

  No, the best hope here was for Octavia and Julie to keep voting together against what Casura wanted. It was like Julie had said, she was giving control to Octavia. She would vote for good things, Casura would want bad things, and the actual decision would be up to Octavia. Which, yes, was a bit frightening. It wasn't as though Octavia was a pinnacle of morality even before Casura was a thing. She was a murderous Fell herself.

  But I had to believe that Julie was a good influence, and that she could help her through all of this. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was the best one we had.

  So, the three of us focused on that image. I could feel the change start to take place almost immediately. It really was that simple, strangely enough. The room around us began to shift. The building was lowering dramatically. Through the windows, the ones that weren't showing the outside world, we could see other buildings disappearing, being replaced with mountains. Snow began to fall out there, and one of the windows shifted to show a sight similar to the one Julie had created from her memory. It was showing us what the city was being changed into. We saw the snowy mountains, the cabin where we were standing now, and then a road leading down to a village at the base of the mountains. That was where the ghost zombie things were being put. They were all down in that village, while the only people up in the mountains here were the four of us.

  As for the cabin itself, it was a lovely, cozy place. There were two stories, with a wide living room as the main area of the first floor, including an enormous fireplace that had comfortable rugs laid out in front of it to lounge on. The rear left area held a rustic kitchen, and there was an entire upper floor with a couple of huge bedrooms, and a bathroom that was as nice as any I had ever been in. And, of course, that porch with the swing on it was there for the two of them to use.

  All in all, the place looked amazing. When we were done, Octavia made a noise that clearly showed how much she agreed with that assessment. She walked across the front area of the cabin to stand in front of one of the windows that was showing the snowy world outside. I heard her try to say something a couple times, but she couldn't find her voice. Finally, she gave a very soft, “Thanks. It looks great.” Her voice was slightly strained from emotion.

  Julie glanced at me, nodding briefly before walking over there to put a hand on her back. “You're right, it's beautiful. I can't wait to get out there and look around with you.”

  They both glanced at one another, then looked away with identical blushes. Octavia cleared her throat and shook that off. “Right, right, the kid held up his end of the bargain. So, I guess we need to find his power and give it back to him. I don't exactly know how to do that, but, I'm pretty sure there's someone in here who does.”

  All three of us turned to look at Casura. She visibly snarled, but it didn't matter. The vote was quick, three to one for her to explain everything she knew about that.

  “Oh, now you want me to say something, huh?” With a few muttered curses, the woman finally obeyed. “Fine, the details about all the powers are stored in that computer over there.” She indicated the desk that had been brought along with us when the interior of this place had changed. Now, it was over in a small library area. “Just use it like a normal computer. Find the power you want, and reassign it to the kid. You can just give it back to him and send the little shit out of here. At least that'll be one less bitch I have to see.”

  I couldn't believe it would be that easy, after everything that had happened. But hey, it was worth a shot. We moved over to that area, and Octavia gestured for Julie to use the computer. She, in turn, glanced at me before leaning over it to type in the name Paintball. Immediately, a spreadsheet came up with a picture of me, a list of all my powers, including every color of paint, the new ones I'd picked up like melting and teleporting, and even my environment sense. There were actually a lot of details in there

  Then I saw something else. Next to the name Paintball was my real name. That made me start a little. Julie noticed too, glancing at it, then over to me briefly. But she didn't say anything. She just scrolled down a little until she found a spot that said the powers were owned by Casura. With a snort, she clicked there and found a drop-down that showed the names of everyone in here. She quickly changed that to my name, before straightening up. “We are definitely going through that and changing every other power over to you.” That was said with a glance at Octavia.

  The other woman replied. “Except yours. You get yours back. And actually, we split the rest. You get half, I get half. The bitch over there gets nothing. You get to decide how the ones you pick up are used.”

  That was just leading me to have more questions about everything, but I shook that off. There were more important things to focus on. Namely, making sure that had actually worked. I walked over to the front door of the cabin, and stepped outside. Immediately, I felt the cold rush through me while I stood on that porch. But I pointed with one hand, and prayed a little.

  It worked. A line of red paint shot out, making me gasp in relief before quickly stepping back inside. “It's good, I'm good. I've got my power back.”

  “Whoopity doo,” Octavia muttered, clearly uninterested. She was busy looking through other things on the computer until Julie leaned down to whisper something in her ear. Whatever she said made the other woman smile a bit goofily and blush. Then she looked sharply at me. “I guess that means it’s time for the kid to get out of here.”

  “What-- I-- you sure you guys’ll be… I mean, I don’t know what else could-- I mean--” I was scrambling a bit, trying to find the right thing to say. Yes, I wanted to leave, especially now that I had my powers back, and things looked to be as good as they were going to get in this place. But it still felt like I needed to do more.

  “It’s okay,” Julie assured me. “You and your friends are going to be fine. You helped us, and we won’t forget that. Right, Octavia?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” the other woman agreed with a wave of her hand. “I ain’t turning myself in. No way, no how. It's not gonna happen. But you and yours are good. We won’t come after you. And uh…” She gave a quick glance to the still-clearly-annoyed Casura. “I think we’ll find a better outlet for my anger. I’ll cool it on the rampant murder of innocents. Girl Scout’s honor. Shouldn’t be too hard to find some way to relieve stress. I am not going to be a saint. I'm sure as hell not gonna turn into a hero. But I'll find better targets.”

  I looked at Julie then, and she gave me a helpless shrug. Her voice was soft. “It’s progress.”

  Well, I couldn’t argue with that. It was progress. I just wasn’t sure exactly how much. Octavia had changed enough that she wanted to find some other way to let out her anger, but she did not want to turn herself in. It was… yeah, I’d take it. After everything that happened, I was going to count that as a win. Especially the part where she wouldn’t come after the people I cared about.

  And, to be honest, I didn’t really have much of a choice, or any better ideas. In the end, all I could do was ask, “So, any clue how I can get out of here?”

  Julie looked at Octavia, who smiled. “You know what? I think I do.” She walked up to me, putting her hands on my shoulders before looking right into my eyes through the visor. “Thanks for the help, kid. Now get the fuck out.”

  With that, she gave me a hard shove. I went windmilling backward, felt a twisting sensation in my gut that spread all the way through my body, and then… then my vision went white. And a second later I felt open air as my liquid body shot out before splattering all across the pavement.

  “There,” I heard Casur--no, Bloodfall announce. “Don’t say I never gave you anything. Peace.”

  I reformed into my solid self and opened my eyes just in time to see her disappear. Just like that, she was gone. And I was laying on the very damaged parking lot with most of my friends and teammates lying around me in various stages of injury. All of them were staring at me in complete shock and disbelief as I lifted my head with a grunt.

  Slowly pushing myself to a sitting position, I took in their silent stares before lifting my hand in a somewhat awkward wave. “Uh, hey guys.

  “Boy, have I got a story to tell you.”

  Joke Tags: Damn It Cassidy What Kind Of Power Gamer Are You? March Your Butt Back In That Body And Tell Them To Give You Like... Twelve More Powers!