Dusk Harbor 1999

A Hand

Zoey stood panting, staring in at their worthy adversary who'd had a change of heart. Was he a heroic villain? A villainous hero? A villain with at least some morals? She couldn't decide. She also couldn't decide what to do with him. It was tempting to incinerate him. But there were those of her team who wished to see him jailed rather than dead. Olivia would be pissed if I gave the command to kill him. I know she would. And this kid would hate me too. I don't like it when kids hate me.

She glanced at the kid by her side, looked into his eyes. Gave a small smile, looked back at Lord Daemon. I-- I want to kill him. But at the same time, I was once just like him. I used to hurt people, steal from people, and now I'm the leader of this amazing team. My team is founded on the principle of redemption. If someone like me can lead a group of heroes, then I guess someone like him deserves to at least live. Jail will give him time to think, really think.

"I'm feeling nice today," Zoey said. "Spare him."

"Yay!" The kid exclaimed.

Lord Daemon dragged himself to the front of the cage, sat up against it, put his hands over his dented face and let out a shuddering noise. Started mumbling to himself, shaking his head.

"What about this one?" Mason asked, gesturing to Total Chaos.

Zoey strode over to him. Got right up in front of him and stared him in the eye. Looked him up and down. Had to resist the wild urge to shift into her tiger form and shred what was left of him.

She walked a tight circle around him, her arms behind her back, clicking her tongue off the roof of her mouth. What to do with him? What to do? Tricky question indeed.

He took a step back and dragged his foot along the ground. Kicked at a piece of charred stuff.

"Sorry?" Total Chaos offered.

"You killed Ice Breaker and destroyed Cat's Haunt. Nothing would bring me more satisfaction than slashing your cold, dead heart out. But if he gets to live," she gestured to Lord Daemon. "So do you. You help me rebuild Cat's Haunt, I'll consider not sending you to jail."

He nodded excitedly, his eyes wide.

"No problem. Anything you vant," he said.

He nudged the piece of char to the side.

She glared into his soul, looked him up and down. Blinked at the area just below his waistline.

"And if I catch you even sneezing the wrong way, I'll shred more than just your legs," her gaze shifted to his face. "Capiche?"

He folded his hands together over the area and nodded.

"Duly noted." He said.

Letting out a sigh, she moved away from him. Started off towards the cage. Put both hands to it and peered in at their prisoner. He didn't shift or look up at her. He stared off into space, perhaps devastated that he'd lost. Maybe his morals were kicking in. Either way, he didn't look too happy.

"Now where do we keep him?" She called out. "Any suggestions?"

There was a short moment of silence.

"Aaack!" Total Chaos yelled out. "A hand! It's a hand!"

Zoey turned around and watched as Total Chaos punted the charred thing he'd been kicking into the air. As it flew in an arc, she got a better look at it. It had five fingers. Definitely looked like a hand. Almost entirely blackened, but hand-like nonetheless. Oh gosh... why?

It smacked into Jordan's face. Fell to the ground at his feet. He screamed in anger and kicked it at Rhinestone Cowgirl.

Before it could land, she bounced it off her knee, sent it on a collision course with Mason's face.

Mason summoned a baseball bat and swung hard at the flying hand. Smashed it into a thousand little pieces. Twirled the baseball bat around his fingers and then chucked it up above his head, where it disappeared into thin air. He glared around at everyone and grumbled.

"Don't kick hands at me."

Jake glanced at the pile of broken hand bits. Pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and groaned like he was annoyed.

"Now that we're done with.... Whatever that was..." he paused, "I'll take Daemon. I'll keep him in my basement. Don't worry, it's very secure. Sometimes even I can't figure out how to get out."

No one offered up any other ideas or solutions or objected. Zoey gave a short nod of approval, smacked her hands on the cage. Lord Daemon startled forward, and she bent over laughing. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She wiped them off on the backs of her arms.

Stabbing pain in her chest forced her to stop laughing and regain her composure. Getting kicked in the chest by Caliber had definitely bruised or broken a few ribs. She took a few deep breaths and sighed. A cool, light rain began. It felt wonderful on her skin. The fires raging all around started to dwindle.

"Sounds like a plan to me, Herald."

"What do we do now?" Rhinestone Cowgirl asked.

A smile hooked her lips. She looked to each of her teammates in turn, put her hands on her hips and flicked her head back to move some hair out of her face. The rain grew a little heavier, washing streaks of blood off her arms.

"Now?" Zoey said. "Now we go home, get some rest, and celebrate tomorrow."