Departures

"Are you even fit to tackle a Midden?" Court asked, eyeing Lucy's denim outfit. As usual, it was sparkling clean and looked like she'd swiped it from a fashion mag ad.

"I'm always ready, and yes, I am wearing something underneath," Lucy replied. She eyed the empty battlefield with its new fog of poisonous smoke and rivulets of deadly liquid.

"Give me the jacket at least," Aarti said, holding out her hand. "It's a pain to get those made and no one here needs to have the pattern."

"Fine, fine," Lucy huffed. She slowly shrugged out of the tight jacket, smirking at Court's fascinated expression. "Like what you see?" She teased as she brushed the sleeves of her t-shirt down.

"Always, always," Court nodded as Lucy and Aarti rolled their eyes.

"Mask?" Lucy held out her hand to San who dumped a simple gas mask into it. She stuck her arm through it, wearing it as a bracelet. "Wish me luck."

"Have fun storming the castle," the others chorused as she took a step into the battlefield.

*****

Ella tried taking shallow breaths. Between the poison smoke and the collar, she could feel that she wasn't getting enough air. Don had had to take Dawnie with him on the last trip and he was visibly slowing down, even to her senses. She knew that meant that they'd run out of IWA bars. Unlike their father, the researchers had ramped up their connection to the Speedforce to an almost dangerous level and that enhanced their metabolism to an insane speed.

She'd once watched Dawnie go to skin and bones over the course of a day before the Breakout. The researchers had been interested in how long the twins could go without food and water. Ella remembered that Kaylen and Lucy had been furious. Then Kaylen had found that ring during their escape along with the weird glowy machine.

Ella shut down that train of thought. She wished she could take the collar off. Sphinxie would be able to handle what was going on so much better than she could. Ella couldn't wait until she could swap places with her and let her deal with all this traumatic nonsense she'd been put through lately. Her chest hurt as her body struggled to separate enough oxygen from the air.

Then she looked up. A slow smile blossomed across her face. Lucy was coming for her, and she had a gas mask bracelet wrapped around one wrist. It was even in Court's colors: purple and green. Lucy was still in full makeup, looking like a norm.

Ella shook as Sphinxie woke up just a little and started clamoring to come out. If she let Sphinxie out, the upgraded collar would immediately shock them unconscious. The researchers who'd upgraded it had told her that and even made a point of showing her the tranq capsule they slotted in. Since the collar would be the one administering it, the effect would be nearly instantaneous, hitting both heart and brain. They wanted Sphinxie under control which was why she was hiding and letting Ella deal with everything.

According to Court, there was some sort of physical change when they swapped. Ella believed him because Court never lied about anything not connected to Lucy. The collar tracked the change and tried to either promote or dampen it depending on the researcher assigned to her that day. The goal was always the same: get her powers under their complete control. They'd even stopped giving her Quell a couple weeks earlier once they realized that it wasn't working completely.

Lucy was walking through the poison cloud as if strolling through a park. There was a slight smile on her face and even her eyes were smiling at Ella. She was wearing black denim half-boots which made Ella wonder just where she got them. She'd overheard Aarti complaining before her abduction about trying to find a matching pair. There wasn't anything Aarti couldn't find once she put her mind to it which was pretty much the only reason it had stuck in Ella's head.

"I'm sorry it took so long, sugar doll," Lucy said, coming to a stop. She removed the mask and slipped it over Ella's head. "Ready to go home?"

"Can we just go home?" Ella rasped out. Her throat felt as if it was on fire. Then the gas mask kicked in, delivering a strong dose of misty antidote.

"We, sugar doll, can do whatever we want," Lucy said, grabbing her hand. She started walking back towards the far end of the room where the rest were waiting.

*****

It happened when Lucy was almost back to them. She pushed Ella the rest of the way, the little one practically flying into Aarti's arms. The Midden 2000 had been slowly aiming at her, and the rest of the fighters had been watching as the teenager had escorted the young girl back the way she'd come, pausing every so often to lift her over dubious puddles. They'd nearly made it out of the poison cloud.

Then the Midden 2000 belched its usual disgusting mix of fluid and gas straight at Lucy. That's when Ella was pushed. Aarti caught her, eyes searching for Lucy in the mix. San had returned at that moment, arms empty and complaining about gaining yet another rabid fangirl.

The liquid dissolved Lucy's denim jeans and t-shirt, causing all of them to wince. It was Lucy's second favorite t-shirt, proudly proclaiming, "Life ain't fair. Suck it up!" Lucy stood, frozen, staring down at the dissolving mess that slithered to rest at her feet. She was left wearing a bodysuit instead and the half-boots.

The bodysuit was green and gold with red diamonds on it. One side proclaimed "Harlequin Forever" and the other "Joker's Wild Child" done in fanciful squiggly letters. Lucy's head snapped up and over to the Midden 2000.

"Court! Hammer!" Lucy snarled, holding out her hand.

"No! Court, don't you dare!" Aarti said, turning on Court.

Court grinned, a crazy light flickering in his eyes. He reached into the laptop bag and hauled out a miniature hammer.

"Court! I'm warning you," Aarti continued.

"It's been so long since I wrecked one of those things," San said, his eyes shining.

"Not you, too," Aarti complained as Court threw the hammer and San charged after it.

Ella tugged her mask down and pointed at her collar.

"Can we get this off? It really hurts," she said, putting on her best sad eyes. Aarti narrowed her eyes at her before finally sighing. She reached over and pinched with both hands, crumbling the collar. "Thanks, Aarti! You're the bestest!"

"Of course, I am," Aarti replied with a faint smile. She glanced at the battlefield. The hammer had enlarged the moment it landed in Lucy's hands. "Now we just have to drag the battle junkies home."

"Really?" Ella asked. "But what about the Abominators?"

"We'll come back," Aarti promised. "Court?"

Court tore his besotted gaze from the sight of San and Lucy demolishing the Midden 2000. It was truly a thing of beauty. Scraps of metal were flying everywhere.

"Fine," Court sighed. "Hey! Luce! I've got a lead on that last base you were looking for! The one in Metropolis! I'll even let you blow it up as a memorial."

Both Lucy and San stopped. San pulled his fist out of the depths of the Midden 2000, leaving a trail of sparks and wires.

"Gotcha," they both said in unison before charging back.

"My cue," Don said, grabbing his sister.

Aarti grinned as Court tossed their last one-shot down, creating the portal home.

"Do you really know where the final base is?" she asked as she followed Don and Dawnie into the portal.

"Nope, but they'll calm down in a day or two anyways," Court shrugged. He took a step back as San darted through the portal.

"So, I hear you found me something good to destroy," Lucy purred into his ear as she snagged his collar.

"Lucy, I'd help you destroy anything you want, up to and including the world," Court said, taking a few hopping steps behind her.

He glanced back at his laptop and shrugged. Then he cocked his hand in the traditional gun gesture at it. Obediently, the laptop flared up, creating its own merry bonfire.

As the portal slammed shut, there was a lone voice heard:

"Is there something you want to tell me, Harls?"