The Watchwomen

Chapter 21 (Act II): We're Being Watched

We last read Chapter 20, in which the four heroines of the Watchwomen stage an intense escape from the Utah State Correctional Facility, or the USCF for short, following their successful retrieval of vital information from Ivan and Gill. In the midst of the hectic firefight—which involves at least three factions—The Viper manages to seemingly incapacitate B.B. and defeat Bryan Birchwood, Coldsnap cures at least four Diamond Legion assassins with the red dust vials, and Voltara and Nightclaw assist in getting the inmates to safety and defeating the Diamond Legion troopers, respectively. Coldsnap also uses her immense cryokinetic powers to create a makeshift avalanche to bury the USCF in several feet of snow, and The Viper pulls off a last-minute rescue of an inmate who had gotten themselves trapped under an overturned pink SUV belonging to the Diamond Legion, just barely managing to make it back into Dr. Duncan Drevis's airship in the process. The chapter ended with the Watchwomen making an extremely narrow escape from the USCF aboard Duncan's vessel—albeit this time with his older sister Monica Drevis a.k.a. Voltara at the helm—and begin making their move towards their next destination; to that end, they hope that the number provided on Gill's last note will point them in the right direction.

This time, the Watchwomen engage in two surprisingly deep and meaningful two-person interactions, unaware that an unlikely Diamond Legion asset is watching them.....

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-Dr. Duncan Drevis's Airship-

Following the heroines' daring escape from the Utah State Correctional Facility, all four members of the Watchwomen decided to take the next few minutes to catch their breaths and gather their bearings.

Voltara and Coldsnap were sitting together in the front cabin, with Voltara in the pilot's seat and Coldsnap in the co-pilot's seat. However, neither of them were doing anything to actually control the plane; instead, the pair were casually leaning back and lounging within their seats.

"Umm.....you driving this thing?" Coldsnap asked Voltara. "Just so you know, I am not going to the hospital for all four of us."

Voltara chuckled. "Oh, that? Yeah, no, I just decided to activate the plane's autopilot feature and have it do all the work. Speed might be a little slower than usual, but other than that, we don't have to do anything, my friend."

"Was there a section in the manual for that?"

"There was," the electric heroine answered. "But I didn't look at it. Figured it out all by myself."

"Okay! You go, girl!"

Then, Voltara changed the subject. "Coldsnap.....can we talk about something?"

"We're already talking."

"Right. I meant something other than this."

Coldsnap pretended to be in thought. "Hmm....let me think about that for a second.....nope. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to head to the back and grab a glass of water after that close call we had back there."

She tried to get out of her co-pilot's seat and leave the cabin entirely, but Voltara seized her by the right wrist and sent a mild shock coursing through her body, much to her discomfort.

"Ugh.....fuck, that hurts like nuts. Fine.....point taken," Coldsnap conceded with a pained grimace as she returned to her seat. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I really, really, really don't think you made the right call back there," Voltara confessed. "With all the ice ramps and the avalanche."

"So what if I didn't? We're people; we make mistakes."