Turnabout

by Melissa Wong

  “Yeah, I think we have it now,” Purple Tiger said, touching the tips of her fingers together as their target landed on the roof with them. “Cloaking Nightfall!”

  Darkness flooded the area, a tingle running up his spine as he watched Maria try to see through the spell. No matter how many times he experienced it, his brain never quite believed it. He was always on edge, as if the enemy were only playing along, trying to lull him into a false sense of security before attacking.

  “Maria!” he called out. She spun towards his voice and he ran behind her before addressing her again. “You’re better than this, Maria!”

  “Who are you to judge me? Another loser in a spandex suit? Go get hit by a car, pinche pendejo!”

  She jabbed at the air in front of her ineffectually, the tip of the spear leaving a glowing purple light trail as it went. He moved again, this time switching places with White Lion.

  “We’re not judging you. Think of everything you’re losing with this,” Purple Tiger cried, “Your popularity! Your friends! Your family!”

  “My family can go to hell!” Maria shouted. Her eyes were hollow sockets now, pure white with lavender smoke rolling from them, “Popularity is worthless, and my friends won’t care!”

  “What’s happening to her?” White Lion asked out of the corner of his mouth.

  Green Jaguar shrugged. “I think she’s just mad—oh, nope the petroite readings just surged.”

  Purple Tiger put her hands on her hips and glared at him. Bands of neon light were appearing on Maria’s tanned skin, curling themselves up her arms and legs as his lenses screeched various warnings at him.

  “Why can’t you just leave me alone!” Maria roared, the purple designs seeping into the roof of the school now, “If I can’t find you, then I’ll just have to take out this whole goddamned city to make sure you chingados go to hell!”

  “What are you guys doing up here?” Pink Ocelot exclaimed, hauling himself over the edge of the rooftop. “You’re supposed to be subduing her, not making her explode!”

  “Mind your own fight,” he snapped. “What the hell are you doing up here, anyway?”

  “I got sent up here to make sure you didn’t need backup!”

  There was a brief sucking sound before he was thrown across the rooftop, something crashing against him like a baseball bat. He rolled to a stop and opened one eye as his skewed lenses yelled at him again, a piece of concrete smashing to bits beside his head as it landed. He tried to roll to his feet, but there was a weight across one of his legs. It turned out to be Pink Ocelot.

  “Get off of me!”

  “I’m trying! There’s a—” Pink Ocelot sat up with a loud ripping noise. The sleeve of his uniform was torn clear up to the elbow, the pink ends fluttering in the moonlight as he showed it to him. “My arm was stuck.”

  There was a flash of brightness to the right of them, and Green Jaguar turned back to see Purple Tiger and White Lion leap clear of another blast. Maria advanced on them, a ball of the same white-hot energy gathering on the tip of her spear.

  She had ranged attacks now? Fuck.

  He aimed a volley of laser fire at Maria as she walked forward, but she swatted it aside with her spear as if dealing with flies. Purple Tiger and White Lion attacked her at the same time but didn’t appear to do any damage either. Pink Ocelot even joined them, slashing through the air with his wand and striking Maria with a wedge of rainbow-colored light. None of the attacks had any effect; it was like she’d turned her anger into a shield.

  “You’ve gotta talk to her,” Purple Tiger shouted, landing beside him.

  “I tried. You tried too—it just made her angrier!”

  “She respects you!”

  “Why?” he cried, “Nobody should respect me!”

  “Well she does!”

  They split to avoid another blast from Maria, and he found himself next to White Lion, who looked up at him.

  “You know, I’m trying not to hurt her since she’s your friend and all, but we’re kind of running out of options here,” he said. “Either you talk her down or I’m gonna have to tornado her.”

  “You’re the leader of their group,” Purple Tiger called to him from across the roof, “Take your own advice!”

  The irony was not lost on him, but it was a lot to process. He’d never thought of their group as having a leader, and when he tried he instantly thought of Sara since she was always the levelheaded one. The thought of him being any kind of leader was crazy!

  He was so caught up in his internal struggle that he was completely surprised when Pink Ocelot tackled him out nowhere. They toppled to the ground, a searing pain gripping his chest as the air was knocked from his lungs.

  “What the hell?” he gasped, taking a swing at him. Pink Ocelot caught his fist in one hand as he supported himself on one elbow.

  “This is the thanks I get? Next time you stand around like an idiot, I’m gonna let you get blown up!”

  He hadn’t expected that. Green Jaguar scrambled to his feet, and reluctantly offered him a hand. “You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

  “Did no one teach you how to be grateful?” Pink Ocelot asked incredulously.

  A shot of darkness struck the air above them, drawing their attention to Purple Tiger.

  “Get your shit together, both of you!” she screamed.

  “And you people are lecturing me on being better,” Maria scoffed, “All of you need to get better—you suck!”

  “That’s not what I meant, Maria! You don’t need this evil magic. All it’s doing is making your life worse!”

  “How is this worse?”

  “Because if we don’t take you down, the army will. If you’re wrecked by a tank or get a nuke dropped on you—we can’t fix that! The only way we can save you is if you let us right now. That petroite crap is corrupting you!”

  “We’ve already saved Mike,” Purple Tiger said, “He’s worried about you!”

  It was a bold lie, but it seemed to give her pause. Maria’s eyes dimmed and she lowered her spear.

  “H-he abandoned me?”

  “No, he begged us to save you too. That purple stuff is mind poison,” Green Jaguar continued, “It makes you feel strong, but look at what it’s doing to your body.”

  She looked down, the swirling aura around her dying. “Are these tattoos or something? These aren’t my style at all! Who let me get these?”

  “No one let you. It’s part of the corruption,” Purple Tiger told her.

  “Why do you all care so much about some gilipollas girl like me? Because of the white-haired lady? Because I ruined the stupid town?”

  “Because I talked to Ryan and Sara,” he said. It felt weird to talk about himself as if he wasn’t there. “They asked us to help you two.”

  “Ryan...” she said quietly, “When we were attacked, Ryan was there too. He’s okay?”

  “Y-yeah. He was kinda beat up, but he’s doin’ alright,” he said, his voice warbling a bit. His cover was safe, at least.

  “I wanna see Michael,” she said, her eyes finally visible once again. “Where is he?”

  Pink Ocelot jogged to the edge of the roof and called down. “Hey guys? She wants to see him.”

  He couldn’t hear their response, but a few moments later Red Panther and Blue Caracal appeared on the roof, each of them holding Mike under an arm as they hoisted him up. His hands were behind his back, his feathered vest in tatters. He didn’t look saved at all—he looked exactly like the prisoner that he was.

  “Maria,” he cried out, spotting her, “Mari, I-I’m sorry—”

  “Don’t you apologize,” Maria said, her voice cracking. “And don’t you start crying on me, puto!”

  Green Jaguar’s display lit up with a flurry of information all at once, the left side becoming a scrolling mess of raw data while the right side focused on something happening within Maria. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time to react to it.

  “Hey—” he began, putting a ha
nd to the arm of his lenses. He didn’t get to finish his statement before a gash appeared in the air behind Maria, as if someone had painted over the stars with ink. A dark form shot from it with incredible speed, snatching Maria’s spear from her grasp.

  “What the—?” Blue Caracal yelped. Even as she spoke, a shapely, vinyl-encased leg emerged from the portal along with a cape.

  “I’m shocked,” Vetrina smirked, rolling her shoulders as she straightened up, “Of all the lifeforms I’ve enhanced using my petroite crystal, you were the one closest to being fully awakened. Imagine that—my most troublesome thrall, my strongest!”

  She cackled, pressing her free hand against her breasts as she did so. Was she trying to stop them from jiggling, or draw even more attention to them? And what did an alien need such large ones for—not that he was complaining or anything—but seriously!

  Within the few seconds it took him to have that thought, Vetrina drove the spear single-handedly down through Maria’s face, skewering her to the rooftop in one swift movement. The only noise in the silence that followed was a gargled gagging as his friend choked to death on her own weapon.

  “Ah, I’ve been thinking about that for hours,” Vetrina sighed. Somewhere behind him he heard Red Panther let out a muffled cry, but what finally broke through his shock was Mike’s scream of feral rage.

  “What did you do, you stupid bitch?” he bellowed, tears running down his cheeks. He lowered his shoulders as if he were about to rush at her despite his hands being tied, and Green Jaguar moved between the two of them. He knew Mike wouldn’t even get close to her before she destroyed him, but in guarding him he was also in danger. He was supposed to be the tactics and information guy, right? Well his data and his gut said to get the hell out of there!

  “Run!” Green Jaguar barked, turning his back on Vetrina and lifting Mike in his arms. He knew he could pick him up on his own because they’d done it a million times before while goofing around, but as they barreled towards the sidewalk he wondered if he had slightly overestimated his own strength.

  He landed hard, gritting his teeth against the sharp pain that ran up his ankles and into his thighs. His lenses flashed a cutaway of his lower legs, but he ignored it as he set his friend down and rushed to undo the bindings on his hands. After fumbling for a few moments he heard Vetrina begin laughing again—a piercing, mocking sound that made his his heart feel as if some horrible creature inside of him had it in a vice grip. He gave up and scooped Mike back into his arms, then bolted forward in order to keep pace with the others.

  “That’s right, run away!” Vetrina called after them. “You cowardly fools act tough with my weak sister, but you turn tail and flee when faced with a real challenge!”

  If she said anything else, it was lost as they raced to put as much distance between themselves and her as possible. Blue Caracal slowed after a few blocks, falling behind the rest of them as they passed her. Eventually, they all returned to the alley she was standing in front of.

  “I don’t think she’s following us,” she huffed, still out of breath. “We should stop and deal with the one we have left.”

  He placed Mike gently on the ground feet first. He didn’t look up—he just kept staring at the floor.

  “Mike, you saw what happened to Maria back there,” Purple Tiger said, “You have to let Blue Caracal heal you.”

  “She’s coming after you next, man,” White Lion added.

  “He gets it!” Green Jaguar snapped, his stomach beginning to churn as the reality of Maria’s death started to set in.

  “Were you guys not affected by that?” Pink Ocelot cried, ”H-how can you two just start in on him like this?”

  Red Panther buried her face in her hands and began to sob. Green Jaguar wanted to go to her, but Purple Tiger was already pulling her into her arms.

  “So what do we do now?” Purple Tiger asked. Blue Caracal put her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. It seemed like it was starting to sink in for everyone.

  “I-I have no idea. We’ve never seen someone just... murdered before!”

  “Hey... where’d he go?” Pink Ocelot asked. Green Jaguar turned towards the spot he’d left Mike in and found it empty.

  “Oh, come on!” White Lion shouted, looking around.

  He couldn’t have gotten very far. After all, his hands were still tied! He was reaching for the button on the arm of his lenses when he heard a muffled cry from down the alley and paused. He took a few hesitant steps toward the darkness and heard it again along with the sound of a chain link fence rattling.

  When he reached the end of the alley he saw Mike throwing himself against the fence, trying to grab the top of it with his teeth.

  “What are you gonna do if you succeed, huh?” he asked. “Chew through the fence?”

  “I’m gonna kill her!” he growled, leaping for the top again, his feet scrabbling for purchase on the metal. “I’m gonna avenge Mari!”

  He reached up and gripped Mike from behind, pulling him off the fence. “You know what Maria would want? She’d want you to go back to being regular Michael.”

  He was silent, slumped over in Green Jaguar’s arms.

  “That’s why she wanted to see you on the roof,” he continued, “she wanted us to heal you.”

  “I thought she was mad at me for losing,” he said, his magic-darkened hair hanging in his face, “I thought she was gonna chew me out. This is all my fault!”

  “This isn’t your fault!” Red Panther said. He hadn’t heard her or the other Warriors join them.

  “I should’ve been there with her! Instead I let myself get led off like an idiot...”

  “Mike,” Blue Caracal said, the orb of her strobe glowing blue as she held it by her side, “The very last thing Maria wanted was for you both to be healed. Please... let me honor her final wish.”

  Mike lifted his head, his eyes wet, jaw clenched. “Fine.”

  “It has to be more than that—you have to truly want it,” she cautioned, raising her weapon into position. “Otherwise I don’t know what will happen.”

  “Just do it already!” he screamed. Blue Caracal looked taken aback, but she began the cleansing spell.

  “Strobe Aquatic Remedial!”

  The light from the spell entered Mike and the darkness outside of him began to slowly crack, fine lines of glowing blue shining from within. After what felt like an eternity, the petroite shattered like a shell and dissolved leaving only the glowing form of his friend beneath it.

  Soon the light faded away and Mike was left in his school uniform, swaying on his feet.

  “Dude, what happened?” he asked groggily, sinking to his knees. “And why do my eyes hurt?”

  “He forgot?” Pink Ocelot asked.

  Blue Caracal looked at the strobe. “Nina didn’t remember much either, but I thought that’s because we fought before I healed her. I guess it’s a feature of the purification process.”

  “Is a feature of it bringing people back to life?” White Lion asked warily. “Otherwise we’ve also got a zombie problem...”

  They all turned to find Maria lying on the ground behind them in her school uniform. Bits of light were fading from her, and her eyes opened. He didn’t know who to run to first—her or Mike.

  “Ay,” Maria grasped her head, “Am I hungover or something?” Green Jaguar frowned at that.

  “Mari, is that you?” Mike asked, rubbing his eyes, “And how do you know what a hangover feels like?”

  “Michael, what happened?” she mumbled before looking up and noticing them. “There was this voice telling me it wasn’t my time or some shit—and who are these freakin’ weirdos?”

  “We’re the Feline Warriors!” Green Jaguar announced proudly, crossing his arms. You rarely got a second chance to make a first impression, so he wanted to play it cool. “And we saved you two from—”

  “—a carbon monoxide leak!” Red Panther cut him off, “It was so bad that one of the buildings of your school was damaged by an explo
sion. We got you two out just in time.”

  “Carbon... mono... what?” Mike asked, also holding his head now.

  “It’s air that gives you brain damage,” Maria told him, “Remember my cousin Lupe? Her family almost died in their sleep from it.”

  “This totally feels like brain damage,” Mike groaned.

  “Do you guys need assistance getting home?” Pink Ocelot asked. “You don’t look so well.”

  “I’ll call a ride. Don’t worry about us,” Maria said, reaching down her knotted uniform shirt. She pulled out a phone and looked at the screen in annoyance. “Car service!” she yelled into it.

  “What the hell...?” White Lion asked quietly.

  “Her dad is some super important dude in Washington,” Mike said, “Like a mayor or something.”

  “Michael! You’re not supposed to tell anyone that!” Maria cried, blocking the bottom of her phone with one hand.

  “We aren’t going to say anything,” Blue Caracal assured her.

  “Hello, yes this is Congressman Vargas’ daughter. Yeah, I need a car sent to...” she looked around.

  “Just have them send it to your school,” Red Panther whispered. “We’re only a few blocks away.”

  “...to Twin Tides Academy. Yes. Okay, thank you.”

  “Would you like an escort anyway?” Purple Tiger asked. Maria slipped her phone back into her shirt and shook her head.

  “Nah, we’ll be fine. Like we haven’t run around Sweet Step in the middle of the night before!” she laughed. It was the kind of laugh that didn’t match her eyes. She seemed much more upset than she was letting on.

  “Are you sure?” Blue Caracal asked hesitantly.

  “Yes. Thank you for saving us from that gas leak. Come on Michael—dispatch said twenty minutes, so let’s go!”

  Mike nodded at them then shuffled off after Maria. After the two of them turned the corner, the Warriors all started talking at once.

  “Congressman Vargas!” he heard Red Panther above the noise, “Why didn’t I figure that out sooner?”

  Purple Tiger chimed in. “She said a voice spoke to her—do you think it was the Great Power? Did the Great Power resurrect her?”