Of Love and Death.

The Present Chapter 9: Don't Mess With Pheng Pt. 2

     Pheng double checked his bookbag, making sure he had everything. There was a whole list of things that he might end up needing for The Five's annual meeting. Which came far too often for Pheng's taste. He basically blinked and it was time for everyone too come together again. Even though he often saw his teammates during the year, they had a set time to come together and discuss everything that happened. Like the occasions they encountered each other during the time between meetings was filled with fighting intermultiversal invaders or other crises. 

      To be honest, Pheng wasn't entirely certain that it was necessary to have this year's meeting. After all, they had just come together a couple weeks ago to introduce themselves to Kit. Of course, if Pheng brought this up, he would be told that "The list of crises that we've averted still needs to be addressed!". As he had been told every time he tried to wiggle out of going over the three thousand years. Which he did annually. But this time it seemed especially dumb.

     Either way, Pheng had to, unfortunately, show up with his record of all breaches in the universe he'd encountered over the past year. As well as the journal full of more internal events. Like when Reina and him had fought Batman during a date. Oh wait, that one belongs in the "External Threats" journal. Thankfully not in the "Ongoing Threats" tome. Because Pheng did not want to have to deal with that man again.

     Along with the books Pheng's backpack had a couple of flowers for Reina, those pork rinds that Laban loved but could never find, and Ilya's chocolate chips that didn't actually have chocolate in them. Because otherwise the ex-King of Beasts couldn't eat her cookies and would throw a fit. He also needed Pegasus and his launcher, in case any impromptu battles happened.

    After five minutes of digging through his bag, Pheng had yet to find Pegasus and his launcher. He growled to himself and stood straight up from where he'd been bending down to dig through the bag on his bed. As soon as he stood up, he saw his partner and launcher right in front of him, resting about a foot away from his knapsack.

   Really?

     With one quick motion, Pheng scooped up Pegasus and the launching device with his right hand. He then tossed the two of them up into the air, catching them again with separate hands. He tossed the launcher into the bag and clipped Pegasus to his belt.

     "Ready partner?" Pheng asked aloud as he carefully swung his book bag over one shoulder. He knew he wouldn't have needed to be as cautious if he retracted his wings, but they would just get flung out again once he stepped into Pocket.

     A lot of what The Five did took them all over the place. From New York City to the Mariana Trench to literal alien civilizations. A neat trick of the golden charms that gave them their powers was that it also transformed them into the same creature as whatever would blend in where they were. For instance, if they were visiting the Great Barrier Reef, Pheng might become some kind of fish. On Earth, they could also always become Humans. Unless you're Ilya, who's been doing this for so long that she can use the charm to shapeshift to nearly the same extent as Form.

     Only, Pocket was different. Because it's a pocket dimension, it doesn't have a ruling species, so most everyone was reverted to their true form. Not Ilya though. Pheng wasn't entirely sure of how, but he knew that she had learned how not to be a microscopic single-celled organism in Pocket. Sure made conversation easier.

     Pheng and his wings were an oddity though. He could use them whenever he wanted to on Earth, even if he was in the mist of humans. Only, they counted as a part of him for Pocket? It didn't really make sense, and he blamed it on the one who had given him these things after Pheng had saved their life when he was sixteen.