Snek is a Good Boy [a Worm Crackfic]

Snek is a Good Boy

Part Twenty-One: Encounters

[A/N: This chapter commissioned by Fizzfaldt and beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]



Panacea

Amy glared at her sister. Life just wasn't fair sometimes. "You got to meet Snek? You met his Master? How come all the cool stuff happens to you and not to me?"

"Well, it wasn't all cool," Vicky protested. "The fight against Mouse Protector was scary as fuck. I wasn't even coming close to winning. The most I was doing was keeping her attention until Snek dealt with the Simurgh."

"That's something we're going to have to address," Carol interjected. "There's no way we would've cleared you to go into a Simurgh battle with the rest of New Wave, much less on your own. You were irresponsible and reckless—"

"I had no choice!" shouted Vicky. "Mouse Protector was a Simurgh bomb! Snek said so! And I wasn't fighting the Simurgh, I was fighting Mouse Protector! And Snek's Master wasn't letting the Simurgh affect me anyway!"

"Wait, what?" Aunt Sarah's eyebrows rose. "Snek's Master is so powerful he could stop the Simurgh from messing with your mind?"

"That's what Snek said." Vicky shrugged. "I could feel something trying to get in, but it couldn't. So, unless my force field works against that sort of thing … yeah, he's that powerful."

Carol traded a glance with Aunt Sarah. "Then why hasn't he come here and fixed … well, everything?" She gestured at the wall of the house and, by inference, everything outside it. "God knows we need the help."

"I'm not totally sure, but I got the impression that he's real busy, and our problems aren't all that bad in the grand scheme of things." Vicky grimaced, like she was trying to put something into words that she wasn't too sure about. "He said something about how there are always monsters, and how he lets Snek deal with them to free up his time to do other things."

"Monsters?" asked Mark. "He's got Endbringers wherever he is?"

Vicky snorted. "If he did, he doesn't anymore. Snek loves chowing down on them. As I said before, the impression I got was that there are a lot of worlds and … well, he called the monsters Horsemen and Great Old Ones and kaiju and stuff like that. And he deals with bigger problems than that."

This time, the glance that Carol and Aunt Sarah shared was a good deal more concerned. "Great … Old … Ones?" That was Sarah. "Are we talking Lovecraft here?"

"Mayybe?" Vicky didn't look like she quite knew what their aunt was referring to, which was fair; neither did Amy. "But he seemed to think Snek was totally capable of dealing with them on his own."

"Right." Carol's voice had slipped into the tone that Amy knew from long experience concealed deep concern. "Just … let us know if you encounter him again. And … it's probably not the best idea to go off to some other world without letting us know first. Sarah?"

"I have to agree with Carol about that," Aunt Sarah noted. "If Snek decided to leave you there and go off on his own, you might never get back."

"What?" Vicky shook her head. "Seriously? His Master was there. You know what the guy keeps as bookcase ornaments? Endbringer cores! He collects them as a hobby, and lets Snek eat any duplicates he gets! If he couldn't get me back to Earth Bet in time for school, I would be totally surprised."

"Endbringer … cores." Uncle Neil weighed in on the conversation. "By this you mean, something that's in the centre of Endbringers." He sounded as though he wasn't sure if he wanted to believe what he was saying.

"Well, they didn't sit me down and give me a full tutorial on it, but that's the gist of what he was saying, yeah." Vicky waved her hands as though trying to convey with gestures what she couldn't express with words. "He had a stuffed dragon hanging from the ceiling, and Riley told me it was real. Also, little tiny ones that are about the size of cats, and just as playful and cute. She said they're empathetic, and if they encounter people who think like they do, they sometimes just go off with them."

"Wait. Dragons." Carol's tone had not lost the concerned edge. "Are we talking about the fantasy creatures with fire breath and an appetite for virgins, here? Not just a knockoff, like Lung?"

Vicky rolled her eyes. "Well, we didn't go into the 'virgins' bit, but Riley said, sure, some of them breathe fire. But she also said they're friendly, Mom! Well, not all of them. The mid-sized ones are feral, but the big ones are real nice, and she says they regularly take her flying."

"So does everyone in this other world have a regular name, like Riley?" asked Aunt Sarah. "Not something like … I don't know, like out of Lord of the Rings?"

"I dunno, because I didn't meet anyone other than Snek's Master and Riley, and Snek himself." Vicky was visibly getting impatient with the interrogation. "Sorry I didn't take more notes when I got in a fight and went to a fantasy world!"

"Well, I don't like the idea of these dragons." Carol's tone was definitive. "They sound dangerous. Did you at least get this Master's name? Or did he just like being called 'master'?"

Vicky huffed a sigh. "His full title, Riley told me, is 'The Master of the Castle'. That's capitalised, by the way. If he has a name other than that, nobody mentioned it. Snek calls him 'Master', or rather, 'Masster'. Riley calls him 'boss'. I called him 'sir'. And just by the way, he knew a ton about me and Earth Bet."

"Wait," Uncle Neil interrupted before Carol could say any more. "These monster cores. Just how many did he actually have?"

"Um … let me think." Vicky frowned and looked up at the ceiling. "I didn't do an actual count, but … from what I can recall, maybe a couple of dozen? And that's not counting the ones he's given to Snek to eat in the meantime. I remember thinking they were pretty."

Mark shook his head with a fond smile. "Vicky girl, only you would call something as insanely dangerous as the core of an Endbringer 'pretty'."

"Well, they were," Vicky protested. "Some of them even glowed just a little bit."

Everyone else cringed slightly, apparently due to the idea of being near something like that while it was glowing. Amy was pretty sure she wouldn't be getting close enough to an Endbringer core to even register the glow. A whole different continent sounded perfect to her.

"We're getting off-track here." Carol folded her arms. "Everything seems to have turned out well this time, but we have no guarantee that it will again. Any fantasy world you care to name will have dangers that the locals know about and automatically avoid, or have simply accepted as their due. Dangers that we just don't know about. So, I'm putting my foot down. Victoria, if you encounter Snek again, be friendly of course, but don't go anywhere with him."

"Okay, fine." Vicky pulled off one of the best eye-rolls Amy had ever seen, and she considered herself well-versed in the art. "I'll totally not trust the big friendly talking python who's eaten two Endbringers as well as several murderous supervillains, and saved countless lives, and who took me to where Mouse Protector was going to kill people. He's clearly hiding something up the sleeves he can't even wear."

Carol's brows drew down and her expression became stormy. "Victoria. Regina. Dallon."

Uh oh, thought Amy. Carol just pulled out the big guns. She never uses Vicky's full name like that.

Evidently Vicky had registered that as well, because a lot of her attitude basically just fell away. "Uh … yes, Mom?"

From the twitching of Carol's eyebrow, she looked like she wanted to scream at Vicky, but managed to control herself. "You're good at what you do, but you're still a teenager, and there are a lot of things you have yet to learn from life. If you trust someone you've only just met, it makes it all the easier for them to turn around and stab you straight in the back."

Amy knew Vicky well enough to know that she wanted to argue, but she personally had no desire to see Vicky end up embroiled in a screaming match which she would absolutely lose anyway, and which would leave Carol in a foul mood for the next day or so. With that in mind, she caught Vicky's eye and shook her head fractionally. For a long moment, it seemed her sister was going to ignore the silent advice, but then Vicky let out a long breath and subsided.

"Okay, fine," she said in a vague approximation of surrender. "I'll make sure not to go off to Snek's world or any other one without making certain I've got a way to get back. Okay?'

It seemed Carol wasn't totally satisfied, but Aunt Sarah put a hand on her arm. "That's for the best, dear. We're only thinking of your safety."

We're superheroes, Amy carefully didn't say out loud. Safety isn't in the job description.

<><>​

Vicky

"You should've been there, Ames." Vicky leaned back in her computer chair and kicked her legs back and forth idly. "Not for the fight, I mean. For the other bit. It was amazeballs."

"Pun intended?" Amy asked dryly, sitting cross-legged on Vicky's bed with her back against the wall.

"What? Oh—haha, no, well, maybe." Vicky snorted at her own accidental wit, and crossed her eyes. "It wasn't just the Endbringer cores. It was everything. I mean, it was definitely a castle—I got to look out a window, and it was built into the side of a mountain and everything—but there was more than just that. I mentioned the stuffed dragon, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did." Amy quirked a grin with one corner of her mouth. "I'm thinking maybe you could've left that bit out. Just saying."

"Mom's totally overreacting." Vicky flicked her hand dismissively. "I never got to meet them, but from the way Riley described them, they love meeting new people. And if the little ones, the hearth-dragons, are any indication, she wasn't exaggerating."

"Little tiny dragons …" Amy leaned back against the wall. "Not gonna lie, that sounds kind of cool. But if you'd actually brought one home, she would've had a massive fit. You do know this, right?"

"I know," Vicky sighed. "And she probably would've got the PRT to poke and prod and test it to within an inch of its life, to make sure it wasn't carrying magical dragon cooties or something equally fucking stupid. And when it bit someone—because it would totally have bitten someone—she'd be all 'see, I told you it was dangerous'."

"Oh, so you've met her," Amy deadpanned. She sat forward again, dropping her legs off the bed. "So, Mouse Protector got you in the leg when you were fighting her, didn't she?"

Jesus—how did she—Vicky did her best to bring her reactions under control. "I'm not sure what you mean." Even before the words were all the way out of her mouth, she could tell from Amy's cynical expression that the prevarication was going exactly nowhere fast.

"Really? You're gonna go there?" Amy rolled her eyes. "I know you, probably better than anyone. And I know exactly what someone trying to hide a limp looks like. Your left leg hurts just a little bit, and I caught you once or twice skimming your foot just above the ground and using your flight so you don't have to rest your weight on it."

"Well, shit." Vicky was busted and she knew it. One question remained, however. "Why didn't you tell Mom and Dad?"

Amy snorted. "Same reason you didn't. Because if I had, you'd still be going through the wringer, and you'd probably be grounded for a month after they finished yelling at you. Now you owe me." She gave Vicky a beaming, angelic smile.

"Yeah. I do." Vicky was no stranger to sisterly debts. "Desserts?" Amy had a liking for choc mint ice cream.

"Maybe. I'll think about it." Amy gestured at Vicky's leg. "Let me see."

"Okay." Vicky bent over and rolled up her jeans leg—she hadn't anticipated this, so it was fortunate she wasn't wearing skinny jeans—so the location of the cut was exposed. Then she bent her leg and rested her foot on the bed next to Amy. Flight, she decided, was damn useful for keeping her balance in situations like this. "There you go."

"Huh." Amy leaned over her calf muscle, a finger tracing the line of the cut. "Are you sure this is the right one?"

"What do you mean?" Vicky twisted around until she could glimpse the area. "Uh, yeah. Mouse Protector slashed me right across the leg. I was bleeding pretty badly until Snek got me back to his world. Then Riley fixed me right up."

"She certainly did." Amy prodded at the cut, causing a minor twinge but nothing more. "I would've sworn this was a month old, not a day. For all intents and purposes, it's basically healed, and I'm willing to bet that it won't even scar. What did she do, cast a magic spell over it?"

"Actually, no. And stop that, it tickles." Vicky put her foot back on the floor and unrolled her jeans leg again. "She said she doesn't do magic. She's just really, really good at medical stuff. But the thread she stitched me up with was magical. Anti-infection, stuff like that."

"Also, invisible." Amy leaned back against the wall again. "There were no stitches, or even the marks where stitches went in. But like I said, it looked like an old wound, well-healed."

"Okay, then." Vicky raised her eyebrows. "She did say something about them being magically dissolving. But that's still impressive."

Amy snorted. "So, are you going to be catching a ride with Snek back to see this Riley every time you get a boo-boo from now on?"

Vicky wasn't sure where that had come from, but she had a ready answer anyway. "Actually, I talked to her about you. She knew who you are. In fact, she's from Earth Bet as well."

"… which explains why she doesn't have a weird fantasy name, right?" Amy mimed a facepalm. "So why didn't you just say so when everyone was asking questions?"

"Because that bit's her business and nobody else's." Vicky had made the decision on the fly, though she figured she could trust Amy with it. "They would've pushed for more information about her, and Mom might've even decided that it was our sworn duty to 'rescue' her from the Master's world, and that's where everything would've gone tits-up in a major way."

As Vicky sat back down in the computer chair, Amy twisted around and rolled onto her stomach, supporting her chin on her hands as her feet kicked Vicky's pillow: left, right, left, right. "I'm guessing she chose to be there? And was in a bad situation here on Bet?"

"Yes to the second, no to the first. But once she got there, and got her head straightened out, she absolutely chose to stay. As far as I could tell, she's totally enjoying life as a magician's apprentice, only without the stupid walking broomsticks."

"Damn it, I was going to make that joke too," groused Amy, but without any heat. "Is she a cape? Someone we might know?"

Vicky held a finger up. "That's … something I'm going to keep on the down-low until you meet her and she gets the choice to fill you in. But I can definitely tell you that she's not a bad person. Nobody who works for the Master of the Castle, and who gets along so well with Snek, could get away with being one for more than, say, five minutes."

"Okay, that's definitely got me curious." Amy rolled her head sideways on her hands. "Why do I get the impression that you're leading up to something?"

"Because I am." Vicky took a deep breath. "She said that you'd probably enjoy visiting. There's a town at the foot of the mountain, probably several, and you could set up as a magical healer. Nobody would be the slightest bit surprised at someone who can touch a person and fix all their health problems. But at the same time, the workload would be far less than here."

Amy blinked. "Okay, that's absolutely not where I thought you were going. Not that I had much of an idea where you were going, but that wasn't it." She paused. "Really? I could visit?"

"Only if you wanted to go. And only if you never, ever told Mom or any of the others about going." Vicky tried to put all the gravity she could into the statement. "If you think the grilling I got just before for going there accidentally was bad, imagine how she'd go to town on you for wanting to go."

"Um. Yeah." Amy sat up again and shook her head. "I think I'd rather sand my nails with an angle-grinder."

"You and me both." Vicky leaned back in the chair and used her flight to prop her feet up on nothing, one leg crossed over the other. "So, you interested?"

Amy didn't say anything for a long moment, but then she nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think I might be."

<><>​

Canary

"You know, I thought I'd been getting fit walking around town," Paige observed, trying not to use up too much of her breath at once. "Turns out I was wrong."

Elmora nodded. "It does kind of feel that way, doesn't it?" She raised a hand and gestured at the landscape around them. "This has got to be the furthest I've walked in my life in one direction, but I'm pretty sure we'll pick it up."

"How far have we come, anyway?" Paige looked around as well. There was the road in front and behind, and forest to either side. For the first few hours after they left town, they'd been passing farmlands, but that had given way to uncultivated lands. Trees grew around and about, the ones by the road offering useful shade, but clumping here and there for no apparent reason. The road actually deviated slightly up ahead, to go around one such clump.

"Sorry, I left my odometer in my other boots." Elmora grinned to show it was a joke. "But I figure we're making three, four miles an hour, and we've been on the road for about five hours."

Paige did the math in her head; it was harder than if she'd been rested and comfortable, but she puzzled it out eventually. "So, about fifteen to twenty miles."

"Yup." Elmora didn't add anything to that.

Twenty miles, to Paige, could be covered in twenty minutes on the highway. It struck her as ridiculous that the arduous pace they'd been travelling at had taken them half the day to get that far. "We're not going to reach the next town by sunset, are we?"

"That's why we've got camping gear," Elmora reminded her. "In time, once we've built up a stake, we can buy a horse and cart or something, and do this the easy way. Until then, we learn the hard way why they call it 'shanks' pony'."

Paige wrinkled her nose. "And I'm pretty sure none of my spells cover getting a hot bath. Or any kind of bath, really."

"Nope." Elmora seemed to be more amused than upset by the situation. "We're going to kind of reek by the time we hit the next town, that's for sure. But then you'll have the chance to wow them all over again with your singing."

"Well, some things apparently never change." Paige had memories of overly long trips in a cramped minibus, and more or less falling out the far end smelling of everyone's sweat. "I could've hoped that one would, anyway."

When Elmora didn't answer, she looked around at her travelling companion, to see that she'd stopped and unslung her bow. "Get behind me," Elmora said quietly, in a tone utterly different to the light banter from before. "Be ready to run."

The sight of Elmora nocking an arrow got Paige's attention just as much as her words did; without even thinking, she did as she was told. At the same time, she pulled the small dagger she'd purchased as an everyday tool and eating utensil. How much good it would do, she had no idea, but she was long past the point of letting shit happen to her, without giving back as good as she got.

"Too little, too late." To Paige's shock, a man dressed in rough leathers stepped out of the clump of trees, drawing a sword as he did so. The leathers and cloak he wore over them were mottled in greens and browns, making for extremely effective camouflage. "We'll be having your coin, ladies, and any other valuables upon your persons."

"'We'?" asked Elmora, her tone one of disdain. "I see only one of you, and at this range I can pick which eye I'll be putting the arrow through." She drew back the bowstring by way of illustration. "Walk away, and nobody gets hurt."

"Nice bow." The bandit didn't seem fazed. "We've got bows, too." As he spoke, three more men showed themselves. Two had bows like Elmora's, only shorter. Arrows were nocked, and strings were taut. The third had a crossbow, and it was similarly prepared. "Now, you can no doubt get me. But you won't get them, and they will get you and your girlfriend too, if she doesn't drop that cute little blade right now."

"Shit," muttered Elmora. "This is bad. This is fucking bad. They swore to me that there were no bandits in the area."

"So, not running?" Paige didn't think it was going to happen. Elmora's headshake just confirmed it. Drawing a deep breath, she raised her voice. "Uh, I'm a bard. Just starting out. I really don't have much in the way of coin, and without my lute I won't be able to get any more."

"Hm." The bandit leader seemed to be thinking about that. "Well, you're not in town now, and the Bardic College isn't here to bail your ass out of trouble—"

"And that's as good an opening as I'll ever get." A tall woman with a commanding presence strolled into sight from around the clump of trees. She was wearing well-made leather armour and had a pair of goggles pushed up on her head. An iridescent green hearth-dragon—Paige had seen them around, both in the Master's castle and in the town—rode on her shoulder, looking around alertly. The heavy crossbow in her hands tracked the bandit leader closely. "You'd be Harraster Baker. Your men are surrounded, and you've each got a price on your heads that we intend to collect. Don't do anything stupid, and you'll live to face the magistrate."

"Who the hell do you think—" began the bandit leader, then he looked around as one of his archers fell face-forward, the arrow releasing to stick into the road surface in front of him. The other two, carefully lowering their weapons, stepped out onto the road; the reason for this was that they were being prodded that way with swords.

"One more time." The woman brought her crossbow up to sight on the bandit leader. "Dead or alive; it's all the same to me. Alive is only a little more convenient. Don't make it inconvenient."

"Well, dragonshit." The bandit dropped his sword and raised his hands. "Where in the four hells did you come from? Were the ladies bait in a trap?"

She grinned as her comrades—they had to be, because they were holding weapons and the bandits were not—chivvied the rest of the brigands from their hiding place in the clump of trees. "Not as such. We've been trailing you for a few days now. The descriptions seemed to fit, but we wanted to catch you in the act. And now we have. You'll pay for our next few months' worth of expenses."

"Well, damn," Elmora observed, releasing the tension on her bowstring and returning the arrow to her quiver. "That was very damn slick indeed."

"Why, thank you." As a skinny guy—wearing a top hat, of all things—began securing the bandit leader, the woman strolled over to them. "Hi, I'm Noelle Meinhardt, of the Travellers. You're okay? Nobody hurt?"

"Not other than a bad fright, and a realisation that maybe the life of a wandering bard isn't the best idea if you're on your own, or even with a friend." Paige took a deep breath. "But thank you for the rescue."

"Heh, you're welcome." Noelle grinned broadly; the green hearth-dragon chirped, and she reached up to scratch under its chin. "So, a bard, huh? And you'd be a bowyer and fletcher, from your pouches?"

"That's right." Elmora slung her bow. "So, they're new to the area, huh? I was thinking I'd have to smack someone around for giving me bad intel."

"That's right." Noelle peered at Paige and frowned. "Wait a minute. Do I know you?"

"That depends," answered Paige cautiously. "I used to be known as Bad Canary."

"Holy shit, it is you!" Noelle slapped her thigh. "I used to listen to all your tracks. You helped me through some very dark times."

"The fuck? You're from Earth Bet too?" asked Elmora. "How many more of us are there around here?"

"No idea, but we were in a bad way before the Master helped us out. Simurgh bomb and proto-case fifty-three, right here."

Poking her thumb into her own chest, Elmora grinned. "Bet you a gold piece I can top that."

"Really." Noelle raised her eyebrows. "This I gotta hear."

Elmora gave a rough approximation of a courtly bow. "Butcher Fourteen, at your service. Retired, of course."

"Well, fuck." Noelle snorted, reaching into a pouch and flicking Elmora a gold coin. "I don't suppose you happened to retain any of those moves you had, back in the day?"

"Some." Elmora snatched the coin out of the air and smirked. "Pleasure doing business."

"Riiight. So, you were saying something about maybe needing more protection on the road. We could always do with two more, especially a bard and a Butcher."

Elmora sighed. "I've been trying to get out from under that shadow. Just call me Elmora."

"Sure. Also, we'd all love to hear the latest from home, in a 'never going back if you paid us' kind of way."

"So, wait." Paige was still getting her head around the idea. "You're all from Earth Bet?"

"Every single one of us." The bandits were now all secure, so Noelle removed the arrow from her crossbow, decocked it, then slung it across her back. "So, what do you say?"

Paige shared a glance with Elmora, who shrugged. "Why not?"

"That's what I was thinking." Paige offered her hand to Noelle. "If you'll have us, we're in."

"Excellent." Noelle's handshake was firm but not overly so. "Welcome to the Travellers."



End of Part Twenty-One

 

Snek is a Good Boy

Part Twenty-Two: Unexpected Interactions

[A/N: This chapter commissioned by Fizzfaldt and beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]


Somewhere in North Africa

Snek is glad that Master has used magic to protect hat and keep it on head. Is nice hat, and Snek would feel bad if he lost it. Wind is very strong, but not as strong as Snek, and fire is warm. Lots of sand flying everywhere.

He sees man at middle of fire-sand storm, walking. Is moving toward town with people in it. There is hos-pit-al with many sick people, cannot be moved. Walking storm man will hurt many people if he keeps going.

Snek slithers up to walking storm man. "Sshould not hurt people," he says. "Iss bad thing to do."

Walking storm man looks at Snek and opens mouth to speak but eyes and mouth are glowing like Master's hands do sometimes. Walking storm man roars instead of saying words.

Snek understands many words, but does not understand roar.

Snek does not know if walking storm man can understand him. Walking storm man is not angry or bad man, just causing lots of damage. Snek decides to take walking storm man to Master. Master can fix anything. If walking storm man has wispy thing inside like other pa-ra-hu-mans, Master can add to collection.

Snek likes helping Master add to collections.

Snek rears up and opens mouth. Walking storm man does not realise until too late. Snek puts walking storm man into no-eat place in throat.

Fire-sand storm stops. Town is safe. Snek is happy. He has helped people. Helping people means he is a good boy.

Snek is about to open wriggle-hole to Master's castle when he hears gold princess girl calling to him. Gold princess girl helped save Mouse when turkey bird lady made Mouse into not-Mouse. Snek likes gold princess girl.

Snek decides to take detour. He opens wriggle-hole to where gold princess girl is, and goes through.

<><>​

Panacea

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Initially, Amy had thought it was, but now she was starting to have second thoughts.

Dressed in jeans and a jacket, she was currently being conveyed bridal style through the Brockton Bay evening sky by her sister. The sun had only recently slipped below the western hills; so recently that when they'd first gotten up to this altitude, they'd been briefly bathed in its dying rays again. Now they were flying northeast toward an uncertain destination.

"Sure it is." Vicky grinned at her. "Mom would fly off the handle if Snek came to the house. She probably wouldn't try to hurt him—or even be able to—but it would be a kind of embarrassing introduction to the family all the same."

Amy could totally see that. "Yeah, it would. So, what's your excuse going to be when she finds out we didn't actually duck out for burgers?"

Vicky sniffed loftily. "You're assuming she'll find out."

"I always find it safer to assume that. That way, all my surprises are pleasant ones."

"Wow, aren't we getting cynical in our old age?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "You're two months older than me."

"Potayto, potahto. Here should be okay." Vicky angled downward toward a medium-high office building. It wasn't anywhere near as tall as the Medhall building (hadn't that been a surprise to one and all) or the PRT headquarters, but it had a nice flat area that they landed in the middle of.

"Okay," said Amy, after Vicky let her down on her feet. "Is this Snek's home away from home?"

"Nope. I just wanted a nice big area for him to turn up in." Vicky drew a deep breath and raised her voice a little. "Hey, Snek? It's me, Vicky. You know, gold princess girl. I helped you save Mouse Protector. I've got someone who wants to meet you."

"Gold Princess Girl?" Amy snorted with amusement. "You told him to call you that?" It sounded like the kind of name they'd give Vicky in a dubbed unauthorised foreign-language cartoon about New Wave.

"No," Vicky said primly.

She opened her mouth to keep talking, but then a circular hole opened in the night air, with daylight pouring through from the other side, and suddenly Snek was right there. The hole closed just after his tail cleared the opening, but Amy's breath was taken away by how fast he came through. For a sixty-foot overgrown python, he was remarkably fast on his … well belly scales, she guessed.

"Eep." Seeing Snek on TV was one thing, but having him appear in the scaly flesh right in front of her was quite another. Also, he was huge. If he lay flat, he'd still come up to her waist. And he wasn't laying flat.

"Hi, Snek," Vicky said cheerfully, as though she wasn't addressing a gigantic snake. "This is my sister Amy. She's the superhero Panacea. I thought you might like to meet her."

Snek's pre-existing smile seemed to expand at Vicky's greeting. "Hello, gold princcesss girl. Hello, frizzy-hair girl. Iss good to meet new friendss." He turned his head sideways and peered at her with an immense eye, the vertical pupil fringed with gold. "Riley ssayss ssuper heroess help people. Iss good to be a ssuper hero."

Frizzy-hair girl? Amy was momentarily taken aback. He could've called me Amy or even Panacea, but frizzy-hair girl? "Oh, uh, it's good to meet you too, Snek. I like your hat." She'd known he wore a hat, but the news never explained where he'd gotten it from.

Snek positively beamed. "Thank you, frizzy-hair girl. Iss nicce hat. Wass given by nicce hat lady."

"It is a very nice hat." Vicky grinned. "So, I was thinking. Amy's a healer. Do you think Riley and your Master would like to meet her?"

Tilting his head to one side, Snek seemed to think about that. "Ssnek wass taking walking sstorm man to Masster to fix. Gold princcesss girl and frizzy-hair girl can come along, meet Masster and Riley."

"Uh … 'walking storm man'?" Amy frowned. "Who's that?"

For a creature that had exactly nothing to offer in the shoulder department, Snek managed an extremely passable shrug. "Walking sstorm man iss walking sstorm man. Walkss, makess sstorm. Fire, ssmoke, ssand. Ssnek iss taking to Masster. Masster can fix anything."

"Wait. Wait just a second." Vicky held up a finger. "Did you just capture Ash Beast?"

"Ssnek doess not know Assh Beasst. Hass walking storm man in not-eat placce. Iss taking to Masster. Gold princcesss girl and frizzy-hair girl want to come?"

"Not-eat place?" There were too many new concepts being thrown at Amy. She had less and less idea of what was going on with each passing moment. "Do I even want to know?"

"Mouse Protector explained it to me, kind of." Vicky was already astride Snek's neck. "It's his way of transporting things and people who don't want to come along. C'mon, you'll miss the bus."

Amy Dallon had never been about leaping in feet first. Even her powers required her to diagnose the problem before taking action. Everyone else in New Wave had powers that gave them a good chance of ignoring the consequences of just going ahead and doing it.

By rights, she knew, she should refuse the call to adventure. I'm not really a superhero. I'm a healer. I fix up people who get hurt doing stupid stuff.

And yet …

She looked at Vicky and Snek, the latter of whom was giving her an encouraging smile. How was it that something so big and nominally scary could actually be encouraging?

When am I going to get this chance again?

Oh, fuck it. Let's see where this goes.

She darted forward and scrambled up onto Snek's neck. Settling down behind Vicky, she put her arms around Vicky's waist, her brain whirling anew with the brief revelation she'd gotten into Snek's physiology when she put her hands on him for the first time. Holy shit, what is this thing?

While her power could normally decipher even the most complicated biological systems in mere moments, looking at Snek gave her the feeling of a high-school physics student trying to decipher the inner workings of an operating nuclear reactor from first principles. There was a lot going on, and she could understand perhaps one percent of it.

"Gold princcesss girl, frizzy-hair girl, hold on."

Amy was already holding on. Now she held on more.

Another portal opened in front of them, and Snek went from zero to holy shit! in less than a second as they whipped through it.

<><>​

Riley

The boss-man was on top of a ladder, fitting a new crystal into his latest apparatus—Riley wasn't totally certain what it was going to do, but she was sure it would be interesting—when Snek's habitual donk-donk-donk sounded at the door to the laboratory. "Come in, Snek," the Master of the Castle called out. "And kindly bring your guests with you."

The door opened, and Snek slithered in. Riley looked with interest to see who he'd brought along this time. Mouse Protector was always fun to talk to, and Glory Girl had been nice too. Maybe it was both of them; that would be cool.

"Oh, hey," she said with a wave. She was pleased to see she'd been half right, as Glory Girl (this time not in costume) was seated at the front. Behind her was someone Riley couldn't see too well. "Who'd you bring along?"

"Ssnek hass brought gold princcesss girl, frizzy-hair girl, and walking sstorm man," Snek explained in his own inimitable way. "Frizzy-hair girl iss new friend."

"And we will be decanting the walking storm in just a few moments," the boss-man said as he descended the ladder. "His infection is more pervasive than most. Greetings once more, Victoria Dallon. Welcome to my domain, Amelia Dallon. I am the Master of the Castle, and this is my apprentice, Riley. You have already met Snek. Riley, do we have foodstuffs for our guests?"

"Actually, we do." Riley caught Glory Girl's eye. "Some of those rolls you liked the last time you were here. Be right back, boss."

She hustled out of the room to where she knew a tray of the rolls in question would be cooling. It was in fact halfway across the Castle in the kitchens, but Riley had been taught the trick of slapping the doorframe at just the right spot, so she could step out of a different doorway to where she needed to be. It was a total cheat, but compared against the rest of what the Master of the Castle did on a daily basis, it didn't even move the needle on the 'weird-stuff' meter.

She returned in a minute or so, with the rolls in question along with a pitcher of sweet fruit juice and four goblets. By this time, the boss-man had Snek's mouth open and the 'walking storm man', who appeared to be a humanoid form surrounded by a howling firestorm, was hovering before him. The storm, of course, was limited to the confines of a standard containment bubble. Nobody wanted all the delicate apparatuses around the room to be damaged or destroyed, and the boss-man would get downright irritated if his collection of monster cores had to be placed back in order.

"Ah, Riley, just in time." The boss-man gestured at one of the work-benches. "A heavy-duty jar, and the extraction tongs, if you will?"

"Sure thing, boss. Hey, hold this a second? Thanks." Riley handed the tray over to Glory Girl, then went to the bench and collected both the jar and the silver filigree tongs. Returning to where the Master of the Castle stood, she handed him the tongs, then muttered the unlocking incantation and took the lid off the heavy jar. The weight of it wasn't just from the lead in the crystal, she knew; there were enchantments woven into it that made it nigh-impervious to the most eldritch of energies.

She had to remind herself that Glory Girl had only been here once before, and had barely seen the Master at work at all, and Panacea—she'd recognised the name at once, of course—had never so much as met him before. While the way he removed the thing from the young man's head with the tongs was still interesting and impressive, it wasn't the same source of wonder that it had been the first few times she'd seen it accomplished. To Panacea, on the other hand, he may as well have been repelling an Outer Threat or reassembling part of the Castle after Snek's wriggle-hole 'incident' (she hadn't been there for that, but she'd heard the story).

She held the jar steady for the boss-man until the wispy, smoky flame had been dropped within, then dropped the lid back into place. The enchantment took hold once more, making it impossible to be removed unless an authorised living being visualised or spoke the correct unlocking phrase.

"Thank you, Riley." The boss-man dispelled the bubble, summoned simple clothing around the now-harmless man, and moved him to the preparation table; all with a simple gesture. "And thank you also, Snek."

Snek smiled. "Ssnek hass done well?"

"Yes, you've done very well." The boss-man smiled and lightly booped the giant snake's nose. "You're a good boy." Taking the jar from Riley, he took it over to the shelves where more of the same stood in rows. "I presume you have questions, Panacea?"

"In total honesty, I wouldn't know where to begin." Panacea shook her head, looking more than a little dazed. "Who are you, and what is this place?"

"As I said, I am the Master of the Castle." The boss-man spread his hands. "This is my Castle, and this is my world. However, as I also said not so long ago to another visitor from your Earth, I do not confine myself to just one world. I go where I see the need to go, and do what I see the need to do."

"He really does," Riley piped up. "There's things out there that make Endbringers look like high school bullies trying to take your lunch money. So, he lets Snek take care of the small fry."

"Monssterss are tassty," Snek interjected. "Esspeccially the sspiccy oness."

Panacea seemed to still be having trouble coming to terms with it all. Riley got the impression that she'd agreed to come along on this excursion without fully understanding what she was getting herself into. "So, uh, how about I take you to meet the dragons? I mean, if you don't need me right now, boss?"

"Certainly." The boss-man gestured at the alert ball; Riley could see the faintest red tinge creeping through the enchanted crystal. "But I shall be needing you in an hour. You as well, Snek, so go and rest."

"Yess, Masster." The giant snake rubbed his head against the side of Riley's leg as he turned his massive body around. She reciprocated with a skritch behind the head, just where he liked it.

"So," she said as he opened the door and slithered out. "Have either of you ever actually wanted to ride a dragon?"

<><>​

Panacea

Dragons are real. Dragons are actually real. Vicky had told Amy this, but even she hadn't seen them herself, except for the tiny ones. Now, standing on the rocky ledge—more of a slice out of the side of the mountain—Amy was coming to terms with the truth of the matter. Dragons were real, and they were huge.

When offered a ride on the back of the one called Finesse, she had declined. Not because she bought into Carol's ranting on the subject, but because unless it was a member of her family, she preferred to keep her feet firmly planted on the ground, thank you very much. However, Vicky had lifted off the ground, intriguing the dragons greatly. When she invited the dragons to go flying with her, they'd immediately taken her up on it.

So now she was watching as Vicky played tag with creatures sporting wingspans that would easily dwarf that of a 747, as well as others barely the length of her arm, while Riley rode the back of the dragon called Cirrus and laughed every time her mount pulled a barrel roll or a loop. Haha, yeah, nope. Solid, hard pass.

And then there was the softest flutter of wings, and a gentle weight landed on her shoulder. Already suspecting what it was—she'd seen the hearth-dragons playing with Riley before they all took off for their aerial sport—she looked around. And came face to muzzle with the most concerned expression she'd ever seen on the face of anything that wasn't human.

The tiny dragon, sporting scales that were a glossy sunset red fading through purplish blue to true black, opened its mouth and gave an inquiring chirp. Amy could almost hear it asking, are you okay?

"Well, hi there," she said quietly, not wanting to startle it. "Aren't you a pretty one?"

It chirped agreeably and preened, much as the larger dragons had done when Vicky was heaping extravagant compliments on them. She got the distinct impression that it had understood what she meant, if not the exact words. One wing flexed up and out, as if to show off the delicate scaled patterns to her.

Reaching up, she gently rubbed its head, moving slowly and carefully. She didn't think it would attack her, but she'd dealt with enough aftermaths of supposedly friendly dogs going berserk because people ignored the signals. In this case, the excess caution seemed unwarranted; it arched its back and pressed its head into her palm. The chirp this time was more definite: yes, please, more of that.

She grinned, partly because of the enjoyment it was clearly displaying, and partly because she could actually read its biology. Unlike Snek, hearth-dragons could be mostly understood, even though some parts of their metabolism seemed to work on something other than standard physics. It was probably magic, she decided; there seemed to be a lot of that going around at the moment.

Finding a chunk of rock that looked like it had been smoothed down for the purpose, she sat down and then let it step onto her hand so she could hold it in her lap. It seemed to like that, especially when she used her new knowledge of its physiology to find the spots it enjoyed being scratched the most. Stretching its spine into odd configurations, it settled into her arms, almost purring as she gave it all the attention it seemed to want.

The more it chirped at her and she answered, the more comfortable she became with it. They weren't quite conversing, but she could usually figure out its meaning, and reply in kind. Oddly enough, the dark mood that had come over her, the irrational guilt for not enjoying the trip to Snek's world nearly as much as Vicky evidently was, had somehow drained away. Sitting on the shaped rock, leaning back against another one, she soaked up the sunlight and petted the hearth-dragon on her lap.

She didn't move when Vicky came flying back in to land on the rock ledge, because she was enjoying the location and the company too much to want to jump up right away. However, when Riley's dragon mount alighted, along with the other dragons, she stood up reluctantly and went to meet them, still cradling her newfound friend. The other hearth-dragons swooped and swirled around her, chirping and calling to the one in her arms, to which it replied with another series of definitive chirps and squawks that Amy easily deciphered as, she's mine, I saw her first, go away. Perhaps it wasn't that snarky, but it sounded that way to her, and she smirked as she came up to Riley and Vicky.

||Oh-ho,|| Riley's dragon mount said, directly into their heads (which was apparently the way they spoke). ||Someone's made a new friend.||

||Aww,|| his mate (or so Amy assumed) cooed. ||Aren't they just too cute?||

Somehow, Amy was just fine with being thought of as 'cute' by actual real dragons. After all, if elephants thought humans were cute (she'd read that once somewhere) then why not dragons, too? It was certainly preferable to being thought of as 'tasty'.

"They definitely are," Riley agreed. "She really likes you."

"Yeah." Amy rubbed her cheek along the side of the hearth-dragon's muzzle. It chirped happily, and reciprocated the gesture. "And I like her too. Everything else around here is amazing and magical and wondrous, but I was feeling out of place, no offense intended, until she came and landed on my shoulder. Now, everything's just fine."

"Yeah, well, she's kinda been out of place here too, ever since she was hatched." Riley sighed. "The boss says we don't often get Twilight colouration; it's a pretty rare strain. The others treat her okay, they don't bully her or anything, but they tend to have fun in their own groups, and she doesn't have a group to have fun with. We've been putting out feelers for Twilights of her age in other communities or Dragonmarks, but no luck so far."

"Well, that sucks." Amy ran her hand over the hearth-dragon's head, and it chirped in agreement. "I'll definitely be coming back to visit you, every chance I get."

||Visit?|| Cirrus' mental tone was no longer amused or indulgent. ||That won't do. That won't do at all.||

"What?" Amy looked up, startled. "Why can't I come visit her?"

||Because you are bonded with her now, child,|| Finesse explained. ||If you separate from her, she will fall into despair, as will you. Stay away too long in your own world and she may die of a broken heart.||

Cirrus put the finisher on the explanation. ||Wherever you go, she must go with you. At least until the bond has matured enough for both of you to withstand the pangs of separation.||

"What?" Horrified, Amy stared at the hearth-dragon in her arms. "I don't want her to die! Why didn't anyone tell me that just petting them could cause this to happen?"

"Because it normally doesn't happen this fast," Riley said. "Usually, it takes a week or so. We only get this sort of thing happening when the people and the hearth-dragons are horribly lonely. As the boss would put it, they fill the void in each other's hearts."

"Well, crap." Vicky facepalmed. "How are we going to explain this to Mom?"

"I dunno," Amy declared, tightening her grip on her new best friend, "but there's no way in hell anyone's taking her away from me."

The hearth-dragon chirped defiantly in agreement.



End of Part Twenty-Two

 

Snek is a Good Boy

Part Twenty-Three: Twilight in Brockton Bay

[A/N: This chapter commissioned by Fizzfaldt and beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]


Panacea

Twilight (as Amy was already starting to think of her) chirped agreeably as the Master of the Castle stroked the top of her head. The cute little hearth-dragon had figured out how to nestle comfortably in the crook of Amy's arm, holding on with her forearms without digging her claws in, and all without Amy having to ask her to. The warmth of her presence—figurative and literal, given that dragons were warm-blooded despite their reptilian characteristics—was something that Amy was rapidly becoming used to.

"Well, then," the Master said. "There is assuredly a bond between the two of you. This is a good thing. I am pleased for you both."

"What, that's it?" asked Vicky, when he didn't say any more. "You're okay with Ames taking one of your hearth-dragons back to our world? Just like that?"

"Indeed I am, Victoria Dallon." He smiled faintly. "Hearth-dragons are quite resilient and capable in their own right. In addition, she will have two competent and determined protectors in Amelia and yourself, yes?"

"Well, yeah, I guess." Vicky glanced at Twilight, then back at the Master. Since her initial shock at the bonding had passed, she seemed to have taken to the tiny dragon. "I half-expected you to say they had to stay here or something."

The Master's tone was amused. "Hardly." His attention shifted to Amy. "Though you are welcome to abide here for as long as you wish, if that is your desire. We have spare rooms aplenty in the Castle, or you might find lodgings in the village below. I know young Riley would enjoy the company."

"It's true," Riley agreed. "I totally would."

Amy paused, suddenly very tempted to say yes. The shitstorm that she knew would come down on her head—well, their heads, but she knew that somehow it would end up being her fault, no matter how hard Vicky tried to take the blame—was not something she was looking forward to. But if she stayed and Vicky went, her sister would then have to face Hurricane Carol all by herself, and Amy wouldn't have wished that on her worst enemy, much less Vicky.

"I, uh, thanks for the invitation, and I might just take you up on it later." She took a deep breath. "But we need to get home before we're grounded until graduation instead of just for the next month or so."

"Aww." Vicky glanced wistfully out the window, at where a couple of hearth-dragons were chasing butterflies. "Maybe we could stay a little longer. See if one of them wants to come back with me, just for a bit."

The Master glanced up at where something Amy had thought was a classic crystal ball had begun to pulse a deep unsettling crimson. "I can convey you back now, or in several hours, for all my attention will shortly be required elsewhere. My apologies, but you must make your decision now. Time grows short."

While Amy was trying to visualise what sort of problem would take up all of the Master's attention, he tapped his staff against the floor just once. A shimmering doorway opened in space; on the other side, Amy saw the roof of the Fugly Bob's on Lord Street. For all its mundanity, the lit-up fast-food sign looked really weird against the backdrop of the Master's laboratory.

"Come on, Vicky. Let's go." Amy grabbed her sister's arm and gave the Master a smile and a nod. "Thanks. For everything. See you later, Riley. Say goodbye to Snek for us."

"I will," Riley promised. "Come back soon, okay?"

Vicky rolled her eyes. "Knowing Mom, no promises. But this was great." Together with Amy, she stepped through the portal.

It closed soundlessly behind them as though it had never been. The whole thing could've been a dream, except that Twilight was still right there, sitting up in Amy's arms and looking around alertly at the new surroundings. "It's alright," Amy crooned, stroking the smooth scales that ran down the back of her neck. "I'm here, and I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

"That's 'we're not going to let anyone hurt you'." Vicky gave the top of the little dragon's head a skritch, eliciting a chirp in response, then she looked around. "Wait, did he send us here so we could actually pick up burgers before we went home?"

Amy had to chuckle. "Well, I didn't tell him that was the excuse you made. But are you surprised? Because I'm totally not surprised."

Twilight chose this moment to scramble up onto Amy's shoulder and take up a perch there. She flared her wings then furled them again, draping her tail around the back of Amy's neck for balance. Sniffing pointedly at the tantalising aromas, she let out an encouraging chirp that Amy interpreted as well, what are we waiting for?

"It sounds like she's hungry." Vicky frowned. "Is it safe for her to eat that stuff? Do we even know what they eat?"

"Everything we do, plus a little bit more," Amy assured her. "Their digestive systems are impressive. They make use of everything. Anyway, she'll let me know if she needs something we don't have, won't you, Twilight? Yes, you will, because you're smart."

As Twilight chirped in agreement and rubbed her head up alongside Amy's, Vicky raised an eyebrow. "Twilight, huh? It definitely fits her. So, how did you want to do this? You wait up here while I go down and get the burgers?"

Just then, both their phones went off repeatedly, beeping and pinging to indicate missed calls and incoming text messages. Twilight's head came up and she looked around for the source of the sound, but she seemed to take her cue from Amy, and didn't startle. "Oh, boy," muttered Amy as she pulled out her phone. "Class S shitstorm, incoming."

"But we weren't gone that long," Vicky protested, retrieving her own phone. Then she looked at the screen and her shoulders slumped. "Ah, crap."

"What?" All Amy could see on hers was a bunch of messages along the theme of where are you? interspersed with attempts to call from basically every member of her extended family. "What happened?"

Vicky grimaced. "Dad texted asking me to get him curly fries. When I didn't answer, he tried to call me."

"Me too." Amy scanned through the messages. Some of the later ones were mass-texts to the rest of the family, asking if anyone had seen them. "Shit, all of New Wave's been called in on this. I need to text them back, tell them we're okay."

"Way ahead of you." Vicky hit the call icon and held the phone to her ear. "God, I hope they haven't called the PRT yet. We'd never hear the—ah, Dad, it's me. I'm fine, me and Ames are both fine. We're all good, nobody's attacked or kidnapped us, so please calm Mom down before she calls in the Protectorate to look for us."

"The Triumvirate," Amy murmured, only half joking. Carol Dallon could really go all-out if she thought there was a threat to New Wave.

Twilight nuzzled the side of her head comfortingly and wrapped one wing around the back of her head to reassure her. Her chirp was very much, I'm here for you.

Amy couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I know." Reaching up, she scratched her diminutive companion under the jawline.

"We're at Fugly's right now," Vicky said. "We're about to go in and order. We kind of took a bit of a detour, it was all my idea. Tell Mom that. It wasn't Amy's idea at all. But look—Dad, we're just going to get the burgers now. Dad—oh, hi, Mom. Mom, calm down, we're fine. Nobody got to us. We're all good. We're better than good. We're great."

In the quiet of the night, Amy could hear Carol Dallon's voice blasting out of the speaker as Vicky held the phone a couple of inches away from her ear. While the words weren't quite distinct enough to be made out, the tone was definitely 'you'd better be okay, because I'm going to kill you'.

Amy tensed, hoping Vicky wouldn't be told to pass the phone to her. The last thing she wanted was to deal with this sort of confrontation, especially over the phone. How she'd ended up with Twilight was definitely better explained in person.

Her phone pinged with another text message. It was a mass-mail, and it said succinctly, V&A OK. At FBs on LS. Sent from Carol's phone, she suspected Mark had written it up, considering that Vicky was still trying to get a word in edgewise with her mother on her phone.

A moment later, another mass-text popped up. OWTN. It had come from her aunt Sarah's phone; in the family semi-code, it meant 'on way there now'. Amy looked up at the night sky, knowing that if her aunt was on the way, she'd likely have Eric and Crystal with her for backup, and probably Uncle Neil as well. Part of her couldn't wait to show off her new friend to them, but another part quailed at the thought. What if they don't like her?

As though reading her mind, Twilight leaned forward on her shoulder and turned her head so that Amy could look right into her bright, intelligent eyes. She let out a crooning chirp and tilted her head as though to say, of course they'll like me. Look how cute I am.

"Well, you're definitely all that." Amy found herself smiling again. Twilight had the knack of pulling her out of her darker moods. Even with the short time they'd spent together, she understood Amy, better than Vicky did, better than anyone she'd ever known.

Riley had said that a hearth-dragon bond only happened this fast when both sides were horribly lonely. She hadn't thought of herself as being lonely—after all, she had Vicky with her most of the time—but the feeling of contentment she got from just having Twilight there was making her think twice about that. Geez, how lonely was I? Reaching up, she ran her hand over the top of Twilight's head, feeling the dragon push up into her palm. Too damn lonely, that's what.

"Yes, Mom. We're okay. Here, I'll give the phone to Ames. She can tell you too." Vicky held the cell out to her.

Oh, crap. Taking a deep breath and giving Vicky a dirty look, Amy accepted it. She felt Twilight's tail curl around the back of her neck reassuringly, and she took strength from that. "Hi, it's me. What Vicky said. We're totally okay."

"Amelia." Carol's voice changed subtly. "I just need to know that everything's fine."

This was something Amy could actually deal with. The 'everything's fine' phrase was a call-and-response code. If she confirmed that specific phrase, it would mean that everything was not fine. However, she could definitely use other words. "Everything is totally copacetic. We are actually alright here. I promise."

The hiss of an indrawn breath told Amy that she hadn't been wrong about the incoming storm. As it turned out, from the frost in Carol's voice, it was a hailstorm. "Amelia Claire Dallon. I don't know how you talked Victoria into going off-grid like that, but you will not move until I've got eyes on you; do you understand?" In the background, Amy could hear the roar of the car engine.

Despite the unfairness of the accusation, there was only one survivable response. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Now put your sister back on."

A wave of relief swept over Amy and she grinned broadly as she held the phone out toward Vicky. "It's for you."

Vicky blanched, then spotted the three fast-moving glowing spheres a moment before Amy did. "Whoops, you hold the phone for a bit." Ignoring Amy's indignant look, she lifted into the air, waving both arms. "Hey! We're over here!"

Amy's thumb 'accidentally' hit the speaker icon, and Carol's voice surged from the phone. "Victoria Regina Dallon! You take that phone right now!"

"Sorry, can't hear you. It's real windy up here!" Vicky floated a little higher.

Aunt Sarah came in fast, dropping the force field so Uncle Neil could get his feet under him, then flying to where Vicky was and wrapping her in a fierce embrace. "Oh, thank God you're alright!"

At the same time, Uncle Neil took two long strides and picked up Amy altogether, lifting her three feet off the ground in a massive bear-hug. In the back of her mind, she felt Twilight take off and hover above her head, apparently unworried about the display of familial concern. "It's great to see you, baby girl! We were so damn worried!"

"Well, we're fine," Vicky said, being the only one of the two of them who still had breath in their lungs. Uncle Neil's hugs had always been on the enthusiastic side. "We just … took a detour."

"Are they alright?" Carol's voice crackled out of the phone Amy was still holding. "Someone tell me they're alright." In the background, Amy thought she heard someone honking their horn.

Crystal took the phone from Amy as Uncle Neil put Amy down again and stood back with his hands on her shoulders. "Yeah, they're fine, Aunt Carol. We're on the roof of the Fugly Bobs. No blood, no bruises. Dunno where they've been, but it's not in a fight."

"I keep telling you," Vicky said as Aunt Sarah finally released her, then held her close again for a moment. "We weren't in any danger."

"So, where'd you take the detour to, that didn't have cell signal?" asked Eric, then gave Vicky a quick side-hug. "Good to see you're both okay, just saying."

Crystal stopped in the middle of saying something that was probably intended to be witty, and pointed. Amy knew without looking exactly what she was pointing at. "Uh … what's that?"

"What? What's what? What's going on there?"

Holding up her hand so Twilight could land on it, Amy cleared her throat for attention. "Twilight is not a that," she said primly. "Twilight is a she. She's from Snek's world, and she's very smart. Twilight, this is my Aunt Sarah, my Uncle Neil, and my cousins Crystal and Eric. They're nice people, even if Eric is a little slow from time to time."

Perching on Amy's hand with her tail wrapped around her wrist, Twilight gave the assembled capes a friendly chirp and spread her wings to their full extent before furling them again. The Pelhams stared at her as their brains assimilated what they'd just seen and heard.

"It's a dragon," Uncle Neil said blankly. "A tiny dragon."

"She's so cute!" exclaimed Crystal. "Did she just say hi?"

"She sure did," Amy affirmed. "She likes people. All hearth-dragons do."

"Did you just say 'half-dragon'?" That was Eric. "Isn't that a lot less than half?"

"Hearth-dragon, dear cuz," Vicky said firmly, striding over to him and grabbing him by the ear. "Th. Th. Hearth. It means fireplace."

"Dragon? What are you all talking about? What dragon? I thought I said no dragons!"

"Excuse me, Crystal. May I have that?" Aunt Sarah accepted Vicky's phone from her daughter's hand, and took it off speaker. "Hi, Carol. The girls are fine. I say again, the girls are fine. You can slow down to the speed limit now. We're not going anywhere. See you when you get here."

"Sarah! Don't you dare hang—" The call ended as Aunt Sarah tapped the icon.

"Okay," said Uncle Neil, peering at Twilight. "A tiny dragon, I get. But she's not that small, and I didn't see her at all until Crystal pointed her out. How does that work?"

Amy wrenched her thoughts away from the incoming doom that was Carol Dallon. "Uh, hearth-dragons come in different strains. She's of the Twilight strain. They can vanish into the shadows if they want to. It's their thing."

"Oh." Aunt Sarah leaned in close and holding out her hand, as though to be sniffed. Twilight let out a soft chirp, then rubbed the side of her face against Sarah's fingers. "I must say, she's quite pretty. And you say she's from Snek's world? So that's where you were?"

"Get off." Eric shoved Vicky, and she let go of his ear and took a step back. "I know what a hearth is. I was just testing you. No need to get violent."

Amy nodded, as Twilight preened at the praise. "Ah, yeah. That's where we were. Vicky was flying with the big dragons, and Twilight here just cuddled up to me, and here we are." She brought Twilight back to her chest, and the little dragon snuggled into her the same way as before. Crystal cooed again and came over to get a closer look, stepping up next to her mother.

"There's a bit more to it than that." Vicky grinned; Amy knew she enjoyed being the person with the information. "Hearth-dragons are empathetic, and they'll bond with people who, I guess, match with them. By the time I landed again, they were inseparable. I mean, look at them."

"Wait." Uncle Neil's head came up and he raised his eyebrows in concern. "Go back a bit. Flying with the 'big' dragons? How big?" Almost subconsciously, he held his hands apart as far as they would go, which was quite a bit farther than Amy was tall.

"Um …" Vicky shared a glance with Amy. "Seven-four-seven size? Bigger? I'm thinking bigger."

Amy nodded, thinking back to the massive ledge, weathering the gusts of wind kicked up as the tremendous wings propelled the dragons into the sky. "Bigger. Definitely bigger."

"Hmm." Aunt Sarah seemed to be treading a line between wanting to hear all about their adventures and wanting to tell them to never do it again. "I seem to recall you promising your mother that you wouldn't go anywhere with Snek, if you met up with him again."

"Actually, no." Vicky held up a finger, sounding sure of herself. "I said I wouldn't go if I didn't have a way to get back. But I had a way. Snek's Master had told Snek to get some sleep, so he opened a way back. After, you know, he depowered Ash Beast, and I got to fly around with dragons for a bit. We were fine."

"Hello, Twilight," Crystal said softly, reaching out toward the hearth-dragon. "Does she breathe fire or anything?"

"Not fire, no." Amy smiled as she watched Twilight regally accept scratches from Crystal, as her rightful and proper due. "Just the shadows thing. You didn't see her at all?" Now she wished she'd been watching Twilight when she vanished. The bond had allowed her to know where Twilight was, but that wasn't the same thing at all.

"Nope. It was like she wasn't there, then she was. It was very cool. You're very cool, aren't you? Yes, you are. Yes, you are." Crystal ran her hand down Twilight's back, the little dragon arching her spine into the caress. Amy could tell she was thoroughly enjoying the attention.

Uncle Neil blinked, apparently having trouble processing the size of Twilight's larger cousins. "That's big. That's really big. Weren't you worried? I mean, you've got your force field, but something that big could be dangerous if it really wanted to."

"Nope." Vicky waved the idea away airily, as only she could. "They're smart as humans, or maybe smarter. And they talk telepathically. Plus, they see us as adorably cute, like little kittens who want to play with them."

Aunt Sarah was still doing her best to be the concerned aunt, all the while watching her daughter play with an adorably tiny dragon. "You didn't tell us about any of that before. Just that they existed."

Vicky huffed and rolled her eyes. "That's because I hadn't met them before. I took Ames to meet the Master of the Castle and Riley, because she does medical stuff too, and Riley introduced us to the dragons. One's called Finesse and her mate's Cirrus, and they thought me being able to fly was the greatest thing in the world, because that meant they could both go flying with me."

"So, did you go flying with the dragons too, Amy?" asked Eric, looking at his younger cousin curiously. "I mean, on them. Whatever." He seemed to be restraining himself from the urge to pet Twilight as well, but some people (Amy decided) were just immune to cute.

"Uh-uh. Nope." Amy shook her head firmly to emphasise the negation. "I like keeping my feet on the ground. But it looked amazing. I took photos. Crystal, would you like to hold Twilight for a second?"

"Would I?" Crystal held out her arms, and Twilight stepped across into them, using her wings and tail to balance. She rubbed her head up under Crystal's chin and chirped happily.

"She's very friendly, isn't she?" asked Aunt Sarah, a smile stealing across her face as she watched the interaction. "She really seems to know what we're saying, doesn't she?"

"Oh, she totally does." Amy took her phone out and flicked through the latest photos she'd taken. The individual close-up shots of Cirrus and Finesse were magnificent, but the pictures of them together in the air were utterly gorgeous. Vicky, flying between them, was tiny in comparison. Amy had also gotten photos of the other hearth-dragons, mainly playing tag with each other, their variously coloured scales catching the sunlight.

"Aren't you just the cutest? Yes, you are." Crystal had Twilight on her back and was rubbing her tummy, the little dragon's head hanging down with an expression of bliss and her back legs kicking gently. "Your scales are so pretty."

"Okay, wow, those photos are amazing. Now I'm officially jealous." Eric nodded toward the way Crystal was doting over Twilight. "Also, I'm not sure if you're ever getting your baby dragon back."

Twilight turned her head to look at Eric and gave him a mildly indignant squawk, then went back to letting Crystal pamper her.

"What? What'd I say?" Eric evidently knew he'd said something wrong, but not what.

Amy smirked. "She's not a baby, she's fully grown. Plus, she'll come back when she wants to. We might be bonded, but she's her own person."

"So, what is this 'bonded' thing?" Aunt Sarah looked at Amy, then at Twilight. "That's twice you've mentioned it now."

"It's an emotional bond. We make each other feel better. Like the emotional support animals you see around, but this one's a lot deeper." Amy shrugged. "It's kind of a thing they do, like the bigger ones do telepathy."

"And how long do they live?" Uncle Neil sounded like he was trying to be pragmatic and soften the blow at the same time. "Because little critters like that don't live forever, you know."

"Won't be an issue." Vicky's tone was back in 'I know what I'm talking about' mode. "Riley told me that hearth-dragons normally live twenty years or so in the wild, but if they bond to someone, they live as long as that person does."

Eric raised his eyebrows. "Well, that's handy. Beats the heck out of getting a dog. How does that even work?"

Amy shrugged. She'd been told about this, but not a huge amount of detail. "Short answer? Magic. Long answer? They were bred to be pets thousands of years ago on some other world, then the Master of the Castle rescued them, along with the other dragons. Now they can choose to bond, or not, as they want."

"So, what does it take to bond with one?" Crystal looked beseechingly at Amy. "Because she's so gorgeous."

"Well, apparently, I was a special case." Amy got the idea that Twilight wanted to come back to her, so she turned slightly to offer her shoulder; Twilight leaped, glided on spread wings for a second, and landed neatly. Securing her perch on Amy's shoulder, the hearth-dragon leaned against the side of her head, holding her wing up while Amy scratched her ribs under it. "Twilight was really lonely because there weren't any others of her strain around, and it seems I was pretty lonely myself. So, we just clicked. Usually, it takes a week or more. Visiting, playing with them, getting to know them. They've all got their own personalities."

"They totally do," Vicky confirmed with a chuckle and a roll of her eyes. "Some of them can be real smartasses."

"Mom, can I?" Crystal turned puppy-dog eyes on her mother. "Can I go and meet the other hearth-dragons? Please?"

Vicky cleared her throat. "Ah, before we make a decision on that one, it's not going to happen right now. Just as we were leaving, the Master of the Castle was gearing up for something big. He said he'd be busy for a while."

"That's right." Amy reached up and ran her hand along the length of Twilight's tail as it draped around the back of her neck. "There were flashing red lights and everything."

"Ah." Uncle Neil scratched the back of his head. "Well, I was going to suggest that we all go if Crystal's going to visit. Get the lay of the land, so to speak. And I've always wanted to see a real castle." He glanced at Aunt Sarah. "That's if you think it's a good idea, hon."

Vicky grinned. "Oh, it's real, alright."

"Mom?" prompted Crystal hopefully.

"Hmm." Aunt Sarah put on a frown, but Amy could see the twinkle in her eye. "I suppose we could see what tomorrow brings. After all, Snek's done us all a huge favour and made Brockton Bay a no-go zone for violent crime. I guess we can afford to take a little time off as a team once in a while."

"Because Crystal wants a dragon all of her own?" Eric didn't quite make his tone snide, but the very lack of mockery conveyed it all the same.

"Nobody's twisting your arm to go, you know." Amy held up her hand and Twilight stepped onto it, allowing herself to be cradled once more. The hearth-dragon snuggled into Amy's arms, letting out a chirp of contentment. "You can stay right here in boring old Brockton Bay, and play Marco Polo with the only three muggers that are left in town."

"Two." Grinning, Vicky took up the repartee. "I got one last night."

Eric rolled his eyes and folded his arms. "Okay, fine. I'll go. Someone's got to keep the rest of you out of trouble."

"Talking about going …" Vicky grimaced. "Mom's not going to be far away now, so if you don't want to hear the yelling, you might want to leave soon."

"I'm staying." Aunt Sarah's tone was definitive as she put a supportive hand on Vicky's shoulder. "Now that I know a bit more about the situation, I'm thinking I'll hang around to back you up. Carol can be a little … reactionary at times."

Water's wet, sky is blue. She's gonna yell at me no matter what. Amy didn't say a word, but Twilight raised her head and rubbed it against her cheek anyway, crooning softly. She felt the worst of the knot in her gut melting away, and she held Twilight a little closer.

"And we should actually grab some burgers," Vicky decided. "Plus, extra curly fries for Dad. If Mom's that mad at us, I'm not really sure I trust her in the kitchen right now."

"So, what kind of burger did you want, Amy?" asked Crystal.

Amy smiled down at Twilight. "Something that's only medium greasy, but with extra bacon. Because I'm pretty sure I know someone who really likes bacon."

Proving she knew exactly what that word meant, Twilight chirped loudly in agreement.

Right about then, a familiar car roared into the parking lot. It took the first parking space it came to, pulling up with a squeal of brakes that was audible even from on top of the roof. The doors opened, and Carol and Mark got out. Even from this far away, Amy could see the anger and concern in every line of Carol's body.

"Oh, boy," muttered Vicky, all her bravado melting away. "I hope your will's up to date, sis, because we're gonna die."

Amy held Twilight a little tighter; the hearth-dragon chirped encouragingly, and rubbed her head across Amy's throat in a soothing motion. We got this.

Amy could only hope she was right.



End of Part Twenty-Three

 

Snek is a Good Boy

Part Twenty-Four: Disarming the Bomb

[A/N: This chapter commissioned by Fizzfaldt and beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]


Panacea

"Um, I'll just go and get us the food—" began Vicky, the utter coward.

"No, you will not." Aunt Sarah was usually easy-going, but her tone was ironclad this time. "I will bring your parents up here. You will stay here with Amy to face the music."

"Yes, ma'am," muttered Vicky, her shoulders slumping a little.

Aunt Sarah nodded. "Eric, Crystal, get enough burgers and curly fries for everyone. And make sure you get extra bacon for, uh, Twilight."

"Yes, mom," Eric and Crystal chorused at almost the same time, looking somewhat brighter. For all that they weren't the ones in trouble, they still didn't want to be there when Hurricane Carol struck the shoreline and commenced the carnage.

"Here," said Uncle Neil, pulling out money. "Extra fries for me. Don't be too long. We're going to want to take this somewhere more private before she starts getting loud."

"Got it." Crystal grabbed the cash and lofted up over the edge of the building, with Eric following close behind. At the same time, Aunt Sarah flew down to where Carol and Mark were waiting in the parking lot. Mark looked like he wasn't quite sure what was going on, but Carol had her arms folded and one toe was tapping on the asphalt.

This is gonna suck.

<><>​

Glory Girl

Vicky took a deep breath as she watched her aunt form a field around her parents. Okay, just don't say anything stupid and let Aunt Sarah do most of the talking. Nobody had been hurt, and Ames had gotten a cute dragon out of it, and Aunt Sarah and Uncle Neil were interested in going to visit Snek's realm, so her mother wouldn't go off too badly … would she?

Behind her, she heard Twilight let out a chirp, apparently trying to reassure Amy. She sounded confident, anyway. More confident than Vicky was, right then.

The field drifted upward again, then opened to let Carol and Mark onto the roof. Carol went straight to Vicky and hugged her fiercely. "Thank God you're alive," she whispered, then put her hands on Vicky's shoulders and pushed her back out again. "You are in big trouble."

When Mark cut in to have his turn at hugging Vicky, Carol looked around with some confusion. "Where's your sister?" she asked.

"She's right—" Wrapped up in her father's hug, Vicky looked around at the shaded spot where Amy had been standing a few seconds ago. "—uh, here?"

"She was here a second ago," Uncle Neil confirmed, sounding puzzled. Turning, he looked behind himself. Despite his bulk being sufficient to conceal Amy about three times over, she wasn't there. "What the hell?"

"Wow, you really can't see me, huh?"

Vicky started violently as Amy's voice emerged from nowhere, then Amy faded into view. Twilight was still in her arms, looking very pleased with herself. It was like one of those find-the-Stranger photos, where everything looked like background detail until one tiny clue pulled the camouflaged person into the foreground.

"How did you do that?" Vicky demanded. "Did you just go invisible or something?"

"Something like—" began Amy, but was cut off by Carol.

"Explain yourself, young lady. I already told you, no dragons!" Drawing herself up, she glared at Twilight. "And what was that, just now?"

"Mom," Vicky said flatly. "Stop. There's a lot you don't know."

"Don't tell me to—"

"Carol." Aunt Sarah's tone sliced through the air like one of her lasers. "Stop. Seriously. There really is a lot you don't know, and if you keep talking like that, you're going to drive Amy away without ever knowing why."

That, at least, seemed to get through to her. Carol glared at Amy and Vicky, but she didn't speak for the next few moments. Finally, she nodded. "I'm listening."

It was better, Vicky decided, if she did most of the talking now that her mother was focusing on the two of them. "Mom, this whole thing was totally my idea. Amy didn't even want to come along until I talked her into it. So if you're going to yell at anyone, yell at me."

"So noted." Carol's nostrils flared. "That still doesn't explain why you went against my express wishes not once, but twice. I told you not to go anywhere with Snek, and I said 'no dragons'."

"No, you didn't."

Vicky looked around in surprise at Amy's voice.

"I'm sorry, but you really didn't say anything about not getting dragons." Amy looked as taken aback at her own verbal defiance as Vicky was, but she stood her ground. "And you're not taking Twilight away from me."

"Wait, wait, time out. Time out." Sarah cut into the conversation, literally throwing up a force-field wall between Amy and Carol. "Before we go any further, I do want to know how Amy just managed that. Amy, what happened? What did you do?"

Amy spent a few seconds just breathing, holding Twilight close to her while the little dragon crooned softly and ran her scaled head over the side of Amy's jaw. And from what Vicky could see, it was working; Amy was acting more confident and more self-assured than she had been for a long time. Finally, she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.

"Twilight's bonded with me, you know this. Well, all hearth-dragons have little tricks they can do, and when they're bonded to someone, they can share that trick with them. I was scared just now, and I wanted to disappear. Twilight let me know I could if I really wanted to … so I did." She shrugged and stroked the miniature dragon almost reflexively. "I don't know how it works, just that it does. Magic's like that, I guess."

"Magic—" scoffed Carol derisively, but she shut up when Vicky shook her head and made a scissoring cut-off gesture with both hands.

"Mom, seriously. You do not know what you're talking about. This isn't some Myrddin knock-off waving his hands and doing cape tricks. I've seen real, actual magic. I've flown with dragons the size of passenger jets. What we've seen here on Earth Bet with Snek is only the tip of the iceberg. And like I said before, if you're gonna yell at anyone, yell at me. Not at Ames."

As Carol seemed to be figuring out how to reply to that, first Crystal and then Eric popped up over the edge of the roof. "We got the food!" Eric piped up, waving a bag redolent with mouth-watering odours. It certainly got Twilight's attention, anyway.

"They moved us to the front of the line," Crystal explained, brandishing another such bag. "We didn't even have to ask."

"Good." Sarah clapped her hands. "Discussion is tabled until we get home. No snide comments, no cutting remarks, and no dipping into the food. Understood?"

Despite the theatrical groans—mainly due to the last stricture—everyone understood.

<><>​

Pelham Household, a Little Later

Manpower

Neil had already watched Crystal playing with the adorable little critter, so he had no particular qualms when Amy offered her to Mark to hold. Looking more than a little bemused, Neil's brother-in-law sat on the sofa with a miniature dragon in his lap, tentatively stroking her and feeding her the extra strips of bacon that had come with Amy's order. Twilight seemed entirely content with this arrangement, politely accepting the bacon and holding it with her forepaws as she crunched it down.

Seated beside them, Amy beamed as proudly as a mother showing off her new baby, in between taking bites of her now bacon-free burger. "See?" she said. "There's nothing to worry about. Hearth-dragons like people, and they're smart and empathetic."

"She's very cute too." Mark smiled down at Twilight and scratched her between the shoulderblades. She responded by emitting a friendly chirp and snuggling up to him, then continuing to eat the bacon from that position. "I can see why you're so taken by her. Just being near her makes me feel … better."

"Like I said." Amy took another bite from her burger, chewed and swallowed it. "Magic. They like being around people, and people like having them around."

"I wanna see if I can bond with one too," Crystal declared. "Uncle Mark, you should come along with us when we go there. Vicky, show him the photos."

"Wait, okay, stop. Time out." Carol had been good, Neil had to admit. She hadn't raised any objections to bringing Twilight back to the house, and she'd stayed quiet while the food was apportioned out, but now she had reached the end of her tether. "How can you be sure that's harmless?"

Vicky turned to look at her. "Because like Amy just said, she's smart and she likes people. And Twilight's a she, Mom, not a that. Be nice, okay?"

"I wasn't talking about the dragon. I was talking about the Master effect. And whatever this 'bonding' thing is." Carol gestured toward Mark. "Surely you can see it?"

"I can see that Dad's happier just holding her," Vicky said firmly. "And that Amy's about ten times as happy as she was before she went. Riley explained it to us. Hearth-dragons bond with people who suit them, and who need it. Amy needed it. They complete each other. Also, hearth-dragons are just plain nice to be around."

"All I see is a Master effect of dubious origin," Carol reiterated stubbornly. "You can say 'magic' all day long, but it doesn't actually mean anything. I have yet to see proof that it's harmless. What happens when she has to leave it behind and go to school?"

"Now you're just being rude." Amy put her hand on Twilight's back. "Vicky's already told you she's a she. And if I have to leave her behind to go to school, I will. I won't enjoy it and neither will she, but she'll understand."

"Exactly my point." Carol folded her arms. "This 'magic' is just a Master effect. I think the sooner you take that creature back to where … okay, fine, she belongs, the better for all concerned."

"No!" shouted Amy and Vicky at the same time, echoed by Twilight's indignant squawk. Vicky stood up, looked her mother in the eye, and repeated herself. "No. Not gonna happen."

Crystal stepped up alongside her. "What she said."

"I don't even want a dragon, but same here." Eric flanked Vicky from the other side. "Twilight's kinda neat. Also, what do you mean, you don't believe in magic? We all know about the giant talking snake who's eaten two Endbringers. Seriously, wow, Aunt Carol. What part of that makes the slightest bit of sense, if it's not magic?"

"No, no, she's right." Amy collected Twilight from Mark's lap and stood up. "I get it. Twilight doesn't belong here. I'll be taking her back to Snek's world as soon as I can."

"What?" Vicky turned to her. "No! You heard what Cirrus said! If you're separated, she'll die of a broken heart!"

Amy jerked her chin up. "I didn't say I'd be leaving her there. I said I'd be taking her there. One-way trip."

"What? No!" Carol raised her voice. "It's a totally different world! What would you do there? You've got no idea of the culture, or … well, anything!"

"Yeah, I do. Riley said the town at the foot of the mountain would have a place for a healer. I'm sure I could find somewhere to fit in just fine, among people who don't give a damn that I've got a hearth-dragon bonded to me." She smiled tightly. "Don't worry, I'll visit, if I feel like it. I won't stay too long, though. Wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable around Twilight."

"Dad!" Vicky appealed. "Uncle Neil! Aunt Sarah! Say something! Talk to Mom!"

"Yeah!" Crystal agreed. "If I get a hearth-dragon too, will I have to move to Snek's world to keep it?"

"You most certainly will not," Sarah decreed, stepping forward. "The youngsters are correct, Carol. You're being too harsh, making decisions without having all the information."

"Damn right." Neil didn't like throwing his weight around in family discussions, and he got along with Carol just fine, most times. But this had reached the point where he figured he needed to put his foot down. "I get it, they ran off to visit Snek's world after you told 'em not to. But they're teenagers. That's what teenagers do. We've all done things we regretted after the fact. No harm's come of it, so why are you being so hard on Amy about it?"

Carol glanced sharply at him, maybe wondering what he was referring to with the 'we've all done things we regretted' line. He let one of his eyebrows twitch upward. Yeah, we're not blameless either. Her mouth tightened as she got the message loud and clear.

"It's a Master effect." She wasn't shouting anymore, but her tone was still firm. "Even if all it supposedly does is make you happy, that's still a Master effect. Amy's our healer. From what I can see, she's addicted to it. How is that a good look for the team?"

"Really." Sarah raised both her eyebrows. "So, you'd rather Amy be unbonded and miserable than bonded and happy? And since when have we put the team's image ahead of the kids' happiness? Or have I misunderstood you somewhere?"

Ooh, burn. Neil watched as Carol opened her mouth, then closed it again. The trap was obvious, but if she avoided it, she couldn't say what she wanted to. This is why I never argue with Sarah.

"I'm saying …" Carol paused as she carefully felt her way through the words she wanted to use. "… that Masters can make their victims feel happy. Why wouldn't they? But the happiness is fake. It's an artificial emotion. Take away the Master, and there's no reason for the happiness. And then the victim feels even worse, after the fact."

Mark cleared his throat. "You do realise you're also describing any time two people make a connection and fall in love, right? They're happy because they're together. Take away the other person, and the happiness is gone. Is that happiness artificial, just because it needs the other person to make it happen?"

"I'm saying Masters hijack the feeling," Carol countered. "Love is real, but it can also be counterfeited. Heartbreaker is a prime example."

"Except that hearth-dragons aren't Masters." Amy had moved Twilight to her shoulder, from where she was watching the discussion with intense interest. Neil would not have been surprised to learn that the little dragon was understanding most of it. With her hands now free, Amy pulled out her phone and pulled up one of the photos that Neil had already seen, of a flock of hearth-dragons swirling around Vicky as she lifted off the ground. "There were dozens where we were. Vicky played with them, but she never bonded with any of them. Twilight came straight to me, and we bonded way faster than it normally happens."

"Also, it's a two-way street," Vicky added. "When they bond, they get just as attached to you as you are to them. And you get to share their magic trick, like we saw when Amy vanished."

"You have to admit," Neil noted. "That's not something any actual Master ever does. With them, it's all take and no give."

"Some Masters give their victims abilities," Carol countered.

"But how many depend on the other person just as much as they are depended on, and only bond with one person, and can't turn the bond off?" Sarah tilted her head. "Come off it, Carol. Twilight's not a Master, and you know it."

"And since when has 'being cute and cuddly' been a Master effect, anyway?" Crystal chimed in.

Carol gritted her teeth and looked at Mark. "How do you feel now that Amy's taken her pet back?"

"She's not a pet!" This time, all four teenagers said it at once; Twilight's echoing squawk managed to sound quite rude.

"She really isn't," Sarah agreed, giving Carol a disapproving stare. "Everything I've seen tells me she's an intelligent, caring person in her own right. Who just happens to be a cute, cuddly miniature dragon."

Carol wasn't backing down. "My point stands. Mark, how do you feel?"

"Um … okay, actually." Mark shrugged. "I enjoyed holding her, and I could tell she liked me, but I'm not particularly depressed now that Amy's got her back. Not more than usual, anyway."

"Same here," Crystal added. "I was playing with her before you showed up at Fugly's, and it was really nice, but I'm not feeling bad about it now."

"You still want one for yourself, though," Eric reminded her.

"Well, duh." She rolled her eyes at him. "Dragon. Come on. What part of this don't you understand?"

"Anyway," Sarah said, in her best 'shut up, the boss is talking' voice, "it's been decided that at least some of us are going to visit Snek's world when we get the chance. Carol, Mark, you're welcome to come along. I'm personally intrigued by the photos that Amy and Vicky took, and I want to see it for real."

"Just remember; it's not Disneyland, and the Master of the Castle is usually pretty busy." Vicky gave the rest of the team, not including Amy, a serious look. "They were gearing up to deal with a significant problem when he sent us home. So be polite and respectful, and keep in mind that this is a guy who considers Endbringers to be too low-end for him to bother having to deal with."

Neil shook his head. "I'm still having trouble dealing with that aspect. You said he collects their cores as a hobby? What do you even say to that? 'Hey, nice murder-monster collection. Got any rares?'"

Amy blinked. "Jeez, I didn't even think to look at those things when I was there. Or be scared of them. Too many other weird things to look at, I guess. And hearth-dragons to meet." She reached up to stroke Twilight's neck, and got a crooning chirp in return.

"That actually sounds like an interesting idea," Mark declared. "I would certainly be interested in meeting more of Twilight's brothers and sisters. And seeing the big dragons, of course. Did you get pictures of those?"

"One or two, yeah." Amy called up the photos on her phone. "That one's Cirrus and that one's Finesse. They're a mated pair of this particular Dragonmark. That's what they call a place where dragons live. There's others there too, see? And this one's Vicky flying with them."

"You're really going to go?" asked Carol. "All of you?"

"Well … yes." Sarah spread her hands. "We already discussed it. Violent crime's at an all-time low, mainly thanks to Snek sneaking up behind it and chomping it." She ignored Eric's murmur of 'snekking up', and Vicky's giggle. "Brockton Bay's not going to fall apart if we take one day off to explore where he came from, and expand our horizons a little."

"You discussed it. I didn't get to have a say. Neither did Mark." Carol looked stubborn.

Mark blinked. "Well, I'm in agreement with the idea. Twilight's a positively delightful addition to our team, and I agree with Sarah that we could do with taking a day off in a different dimension."

"And if I say no, it's a bad idea?"

It was Neil's turn to roll his eyes. "Then you don't come along. Seriously, Carol. What's your problem with all this? Is it because the kids snuck off? Or because they didn't ask your permission to go to a place that's probably safer than Earth Bet, and brought back a cuddly dragon?"

She set her jaw. "Make light of it all you like. I told them not to go there, and they flagrantly disobeyed me."

Vicky shook her head. "No. You told us not to go if there was any doubt we'd be able to get back. There was never a doubt. Even when Snek was taking a nap, the Master of the Castle just opened a doorway and we stepped straight through onto the roof of Fugly's. We weren't stranded. We were having fun."

"And meeting the cutest dragon in the world," Crystal amended, stepping up alongside Amy so she could skritch Twilight behind the head. Twilight, of course, approved of this attention, and of the sentiment in general.

"Carol, you know me. I don't tell you how to parent your kids." Sarah moved to face her sister. "But you're wrong here. From what Amy says, you never said not to get a dragon, and you left a loophole a mile wide with the other thing."

"They knew what I meant!"

Everyone jumped at the outburst; Twilight flared her wings slightly, but settled down again under Crystal's soothing touch.

Sarah shook her head. "Carol, for a lawyer, you're really bad at wording things for your kids. Would any lawsuit for breach of contract be able to make a case with 'they knew what I meant'? Or is it always the letter of the law?"

Neil watched as Carol's lips compressed. This was the second time Sarah had trapped her with words, and she had to be pretty pissed off about it. "… the letter," she conceded.

"Well, then." Sarah slipped her arm around Carol's shoulders. "We're planning on visiting Snek's world. You're totally welcome to come along, if you want, or not; we won't force you. But I, for one, intend to get a photo of Neil meeting a real, honest-to-goodness dragon face to face."

"And I'm going to cuddle as many hearth-dragons as I can." Crystal grinned. "If I get to bond with one, awesome, but if I don't, it won't be the end of the world."

Sarah nodded to acknowledge her contribution, then turned her attention back to Carol. "So, what do you say?"

Carol grimaced, then let out an aggravated sigh. "I suppose so. Someone has to be the adult in the room."

"Woo!" Crystal exulted, lifting off the ground and sending sprays of low-power laser-light across the ceiling. "This is gonna be amazeballs!"

Neil grinned. Truth be told, he was kind of looking forward to it himself.



End of Part Twenty-Four