19 - The Real Thing//Lea

Lea saw stars as she hit the brick half-wall that ran along the roof's perimeter. Thankfully, the blistering pain in her head only lasted a few seconds.

Paxton and Nora were right about her newly found endurance; even though she'd practically launched herself into the wall, she was already fine.

"I'm alright," she said, standing up straight after a few sighs. Both of her new friends seemed to be on the verge of hysterics, but they kept their laughter to themselves.

"Give it a few seconds," Nora managed to say without giggling. "Even though we're practically bulletproof, you've gotta make sure you've got the impact out of your system."

"Okay, Nora," Lea said.

She soon realized her mistake, putting her hands to her mouth in embarrassment. Similarly, her friends each put an index finger to their lips. They couldn't use their real names whilst they were out on a mission, unless they wanted the authorities hot on their trail.

They used code names instead.

"I mean, Verdant," she corrected.

"Did you pick out a name from the list?" Nora asked. Lea shrugged.

"They're all so long; why can't I just be the 'Red' phantom," Lea argued. The horrified faces her teammates were making told her she'd just made a major faux pas.

"Out of all the people on the whole planet, you're the one who comes across magic," Paxton said dramatically. "And you want to thank the forces of fate that led you here by naming yourself after a primary color?"

"What he said," Nora agreed.

"Okay then, I'll be Cardinal Phantom," Lea relented.

"Good choice!" Paxton said, clapping. "The Cardinal Phantom; it sounds very imposing."

"Good! Now down to the game-plan," Nora said with a large smile, pulling them both into a huddle. "Our mission is to infiltrate Barium Hall, take the purple Noiz and leave without being spotted."

"I'll be leading," she explained. "Paxton will be backup. Lea will be lookout; make sure you learn as much as possible as you watch us."

"Agreed?" she said.

"Agreed," Lea and Paxton echoed.

Their capes flying in the wind, the three Phantoms leaped off the roof just as the sun began to dip over the horizon.

In the semi-dark, Nora led them through a series of alleys that put them on the eastern side of Barium Hall. With her new and improved eye-sight, Lea found herself able to follow her without too much effort despite the many random sharp turns Nora made.

That is, until they reached a dumpster behind a pizzeria. Her first whiff of the garbage after landing had her almost cross-eyed. Nora quickly moved around her and helped keep her steady.

"You have to remember that it's not just your eyesight you have to limit," she said. "All of your senses have been enhanced in this form."

"I just turn off my nose when I transform," Paxton said. "The places we rob tend to have really strong perfume residue inside and it can really overload your brain."

"Turn off?" Lea asked.

"The melody in the back of your mind, where the Noiz' power is flowing from," Nora explained. "Imagine adjusting one of the many volume knobs back there; the one for smell."

Ever since Lea had transformed, there was a faint pleasant sense in her head, the sort of feeling she got when she listened to Europop. Though she had to actively think about it to transform, it dimmed once she had. Following Nora's instructions, she imagined tuning out the baseline in the song. The foul stench assaulting her senses disappeared.

"It worked!" Lea said excitedly.

"Good," Nora said with a nod. She looked up to the pizzeria's fire escape and extended her hand to it. "Now, you're going to have to trust me on this."

Lea nodded just as the neon rope Nora used before shot out of the air right above Nora's palm, accompanied by the soft sounds of classical music. It wrapped around onto the railing along the fire escape. Nora grabbed the end that was floating in the air and pulled it, testing it out.

Once she was satisfied, she jumped onto the rope even though it hadn't been tied to anything else. Paxton did the same.

"Come on," she said to Lea. Despite her trepidation, Lea eventually jumped on to the rope alongside her fellow Phantoms.

They each ran the length of the surprisingly sturdy rope and landed onto the fire escape, running until they made a sharp turn and found themselves looking at Barium Hall again. Once they were on the very end of the fire escape, Nora made another rope, this time attaching it to a small open window.

"Let's go," Nora said decisively. Lea took a deep breath and jumped on.

It was time for her first heist.