Chapter 75

The first thing Luz did when Belos greeted her was swing Stringbean at him and unleash as much magic as her partner was willing to spare at him in the form of a massive blast of energy.

The result was a massive, fiery beam of pink and purple framed with black, the biggest spell she'd ever seen anyone cast, which hit Belos dead and flew back. It was a good thing everyone had cleared out because Luz had destroyed the stage, and part of the stands and left a huge, smoking scar cutting through the park.

"...You been holding out on me?" She found herself asking her palisman. As a staff, Stringbean couldn't verbally respond but Luz still got the mental impression of a shrug.

As the smoke cleared, Luz could make out a set of charred bones in the scarred land and she relaxed. "Okay, okay, he's..."

Amity placed a hand on her shoulder. "Luz..."

"I'm okay," she said, only to immediately contradict herself, "No I'm not. Sorry, bad habit, but... I'm gonna be. There's nothing left of him, so..."

"You are awfully calm for someone who just killed a man," April replied. "Er, technically too... Actually, I think Cletus is a zombie now so if he was in there I don't think he counts but... Anyway..."

"...He had it coming," was all Luz could say. She could forgive a lot, and while she might feel bad about doing it later... Not Belos. Never Belos.

Iron Man landed next to them and the other Avengers who'd responded arrived. Luz recognized Quicksilver, Captain Marvel, and The Vision.

"So I feel like I'm missing some context here" Iron Man began. "Someone or something... What? Took over Kassady's body and his symbiote didn't just boot it?"

"That was... Belos", Amity answered. "He was a... Witch hunter, who—"

"Oh, right," Iron Man interrupted. "The genocidal tyrant Doctor Strange asked for help with," he then turned back to Luz. Which makes you, Luz Noceda, correct?"

"Yes, sir," Luz answered.

"Sorry we weren't there the other week," he continued. "We were just getting ready to head to space to help with an intergalactic incident when Stephen called us. I offered to have a satellite armed with automated drones position itself over Gravesfield in case it became necessary to invade the other dimension outright but he said that that would be a quote, 'terrible idea.'"

"...Ya think?" quipped Quicksilver.

"It's fine, and I appreciate the sentiment," Luz replied. "And now he's dead. He's dead. For real this time, no coming back from this one," Luz said even as her brain helpfully reminded her that she watched him get spattered and he came back from that. "So we can all move on and heal, and, and," she tried to think of something else she could say to convince herself that he was gone for good, "and I have so much to work through when I start therapy."

Her heart was beating really fast, she tried doing that breathing exercise Gus had her do on the airship when suddenly something near her feet set off her ESP. It happened too fast, something liquid exploded from the ground. Bloody red and rotten green, it enveloped her and forced its way down her throat, tasting of metal and decay and death.

She could feel it, shifting around inside her. The veins of red and stripes of green pollute her form and feels the pain of horns forcing their way from her skull. Her body moved against her will, her limbs contorting at unnatural angles... Her coven sigil flared, the veins spreading about her with searing pain worse than the Titan's humos combined. She screamed, but then felt a shattering sensation at her arm and it all stopped at once.

She saw her symbiote costume change completely to red, save for the irregular green stripes. She felt something slide along her face, and then her mouth moved on its own.

"Ahh, it's so nice when a plan comes together," came Belos's voice through Luz's mouth. Then everything went dark.

TLOA

Anne had been staring at the TV screen in quiet horror ever since the gunshot. She'd heard of the charity dance thing being aired and though it sounded fun, she'd told her parents about it and they agreed, so they made plans to watch it together and maybe pledge some money. Sasha came over to watch it with them, they had snacks, and when she and Sash had recognized Luz and, based on what Luz had said, her girlfriend as Couple 7 and pointed it out that she and her partner were the couple who got the Boonchuy's pledges.

Then Luz got shot in the chest.

Then Luz and a bunch of other people got into a fight with the most infamous mass murderer in the country.

Luz's girlfriend being a Thor was pretty cool, but then it turned out the aforementioned murderer was possessed by someone who knew Luz—probably that Belos guy—and right when it looked like Luz had finished him off for good slime ripped out of the ground and now shewas possessed.

"Why haven't they cut the broadcast?" her Dad said. "I don't think there's even anyone at the cameras anymore, they're just letting it run."

That was a good question that nobody in the room had an answer for.

The mics didn't pick up what the creep who'd just body-jacked Luz said before they made like they were going to snap her magic staff. Fortunately, the precious danger noodle came back to life and slipped from their grasp before they could go through with it but it'd been a close call.

Anne's phone started ringing. She checked it, Marcy. "Hey, Mar-Mar," she greeted. "This isn't a good—"

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing!?" Came Marcy's somewhat hysterical response. "The, the JGI danceathon with..."

"Marcy, I'm gonna put you on speaker," Anne replied, "Sasha's here." Anne did so and then continued. "And yeah, we're watching."

"Watching the girl we just met, the one we bonded with, fighting for her life in what should be a moment of much-needed happiness," Marcy confirmed. "And then, and then, she gets possessed!" Marcy was very clearly not taking this well, for obvious reasons.

"Okay, Marcy, calm down," Anne said. "The Avengers are there. Luz's is going to be fine, and... We can see her at the next group meeting or after this is done we can call her or something. Just, don't panic."

"How can I do anything but panic? She's already been through so much and now she's going through what Iwent through and... We just made friends with her, we can't lose her already... There's gotta be something we can do."

"I'm not sure what. Sash and I are clear on the other side of the country and you're still a state away," Anne continued. "It sucks but there isn't anything we can do."

"We saved a whole planet once," Marcy countered.

"We had powers then," that and it literally killed Anne but she wasn't about to bring that up when Marcy was clearly reliving her trauma through someone else. "Now we're just three freakishly athletic teens who happen to be good at fighting... Which describes a lot of street-level superheroes but even if we could get there what can we do that The Avengers can't?"

"Anne, don't you have Doctor Strange's number?" Sasha asked.

"Yeah," Anne said. "He gave it to me after he checked out my soul. Said to give him a call if I got contacted by the Guardian again or if I had any other cosmic-related problems or questions but then he just made it a point to check in on me so I've never had to use it."

"Didn't you tell me something about him asking you about a lamp?" Sasha continued. "A lamp that could... Give someone back powers they used to have."

"What?" Marcy asked.

"He got ahold of this old Chinese oil lamp," Anne began. "It's enchanted so that... He said that once every thousand years or so, it builds up three charges. You light the lamp and then blow it out, which uses a charge, and you get back one power or ability you used to have. Permanently. Even if the source of that power doesn't exist anymore. But it only works once per person, so basically three people can get their powers back. He says he mostly grabbed it to keep it out of the wrong hands, and he was gonna toss it in his rainy day vault, but... It wants to be used and he might not be able to contain it if he doesn't find people to use the charges on." Anne hadn't answered one way or the other when Strange had talked to her and her parents about having her use one of the charges. Having cool anime powers wasn't exactly the worst thing, and she'd totally be willing to help in a pinch but... Every use of the Calimity powers had exhausted her and that last big use had literally burned her up from the inside out... She's not sure how she lived long enough to say goodbye.

"You think he still has it?" Marcy asked. "With the Calamity Powers we could—"

"Those powers killedme, Marcy!" Anne shouted... "I'm sorry, I..."

"No, you're right. I'm being selfish and getting too worked up again."

"She said we, not you, Anne," Sasha interrupted. "All of us. The powers are exhausting to use... But you only got hurt because you used all of theminstead of just yours."

Anne took a deep breath and caught a glimpse of the TV screen again: That monster was making Luz fight her girlfriend. "Okay, I'll call Doctor Strange and see if he still has the lamp."

"There's no need," came the voice of the man in question as he rather casually entered the living room. The use of portals for the Stealth Hi/Bye was something Anne had noticed about the doctor but usually, he wouldn't come straight into someone's house. "I apologize for the intrusion, but I see that you're all already aware of the extreme circumstances at hand?"

"...So were you just waiting for an entrance cue or—"

"No," Strange denied. "That was just good timing. Now, I actually came to recruit you for a different plan to help Luz, but if you're serious about using the lamp... More people who can help keep the monster possessing her pinned down would be a big help."

"You son of a gun, I'm in!" Marcy shouted from the other end of the phone.

Sasha took out her phone and started texting. "Going to help someone... might come home with powers... don't wait up... And Send."

Anne looked to her parents, who seemed resigned to the whole thing. "If you're going to do this try to be home before midnight and try not to kill anyone," her Dad said.

"I think your sword is in the basement," her Mom continued. "I'll go check."

"I don't think I'll need it," Anne replied.

With that, a portal took her and Sasha to Doctor Strange's place. Or, well, a room in it at least. Everything was big and fancy and they were advised to please not touch anything as they were sat on a couch before a table. Strange then left them, returning with Marcy a few minutes later. She was clearly frazzled and the last time Anne had seen Marcy that pale was when she got stabbed. She was immediately pulled into a hug when she was sat down next to Anne, with Sasha reaching over her to hold Marcy's hand.

Strange then set the lamp on the table.

"Huh, not what I imagined when you said it was a Chinese lamp," Anne said. "It's more round than oval, you've got that pointy spike-bit on the lid, the spout's straight and the dragon head at the end is new but otherwise it looks like you rub it and the genie from Aladdin comes out."

"Actually the earliest versions of Aladdin took place in China," Marcy interrupted. "Likely Xinjiang, which has a lot of Islamic and other Middle Eastern cultural overlap because of the Silk Road, though the story doesn't specify and it's also possible that they just used China as shorthand for a faraway exotic location without caring if it was accurate."

Strange lit the lamp. "Now, before we begin I want it to be clear: This is permanent. While theoretically, you might be able to channel the power into something else temporarily, it'll always come back to you. To paraphrase a friend of mine, with power comes responsibility: I am trusting you, based on previous history, that you will use this power responsibly." He looked them over. "You may find yourselves being called on, formally or informally, to help with situations where your abilities might be useful. The recreation of your lost powers may likely attract the attention of the so-called 'Guardian' who created them in the first place. With that said, if you're having any second thoughts I can snuff—"

Marcy had seemingly grown impatient as Strange gave his speech. She grabbed the Lamp right off the table and blew out the flame. For a moment, the irises of her eyes glowed a brilliant green, then the lamp relit itself.

"Hand it over here Marbles," Sasha asked with outstretched hands. Marcy dutifully handed it over and Sasha looked it over before blowing out the flame, her eyes flashing a color somewhere between red and magenta.

Sasha then held out the lamp for Anne. "Your turn."

Anne took the lamp but hesitated. Her hands trembled enough that she put the lamp back on the table. She took a deep breath, only for Marcy to speak up. "Oh, Frog, we're doing it again."

Sasha immediately flinched. "Anne, you don't have to do this if you don't want to and I'm sorry if it seemed like I was pressuring you."

"I'm sorry, I got so caught up in my feelings that I wasn't considerate of yours even though you flat-out told me—"

"Guys," Anne interrupted before Marcy could finish. "It's fine. This isn't like stealing the box. Or maybe it is but only when you look at it, I... You're right. I should do this. I want to do this. Luz needs all the help she can get and doing this means we can stop a bad person from getting power. And, you guys need me out there. What good are Strength and Wit without Heart? I just... need to psych myself up for a minute. Give myself some incentive..." She tried so very hard to focus on how much fun it had been to fight alongside her two best friends and not the part where channeling the combined powers turned her to ash. She rubbed the sides of her head. "C'mon, I thought I was over this!"

"You want incentive?" Sasha said. "When we had the powers we could fly off into space. If we have them again, you and I can fly out to visit Marcy whenever we want."

...That was a good incentive.

"Yeah!" Marcy agreed enthusiastically. "I could show you around my new home town, there's this really good ice cream place that has a couple of exotic flavors and a comic book store where they show classic movies on an old school projector on Fridays or... Or we could go on a date."

"Huh?" Anne asked.

"A date. You, me, and Sasha. Together. Just to, you know... See how it goes?" Marcy continued. "You know, after Luz blurted out that obvious intrusive thought about whether or not we were a polycule... And I didn't know the answer... Well, you and Sashy came up with some good reasons and I wasn't joking about calling you my loves in my journal and... I've been thinking about it and if we can visit each other whenever we want then maybe we could try and see... I'm being silly, aren't I?"

"Nah, that sounds good to me," Sasha added. "If Anne's okay with it."

Anne took a deep breath and blew out the flame. She felt only a brief pulse to let her know that her Calamity powers were back. "Okay, let's do this. We'll go and save our new friend Luz, and then... Plan out our date!"

"Alright then, there are a few more people I need to pick up but then..." Doctor Strange began as he explained the plan for helping Luz.

AN: So, the Calamity Girls didn't always have as prominent a role in the story as they do now... But the intent of the lamp mentioned back in chapter 43 was always that it'd be used on them. Was actually going to do that later, but sometimes stuff gets changed around in the writing. Up next is the climax of this arc.