Vendetta For Vee

Faith in a Demon

"Wait, are you saying all they did was puff on some weed?" Trigger asked. "Sounds kinda... farfetched. Stuff's harmless. Can't believe it's still not legal everywhere now."

Lawson shot him a look.

"Ehe, not that I ever would partake or anything," he simpered.

Both the two of them and Powers were busy briskly escorting Vee through the woods and to the shack her friends were (hopefully still) in a trance in. The former appeared to be thinking something over as they did.

"Trigger's personal prerogatives aside," Powers said. "Something tells me this isn't normal marijuana. Maybe it was laced with something?"

"I don't know what that means, but it wasn't normal," Vee gulped. "There was a patch of mushrooms growing nearby. Mushrooms from the Demon Realm. They were right near where we got the smokeleaf."

"Mmm," Powers pondered. "Literal magic mushrooms."

Out of the corner of her eye, Vee saw Trigger suppressing a giggle.

"How exactly did mushrooms from the Demon Realm wind up growing here?" Lawson asked. "I thought the portal you came through was artificial, not one that randomly opens here and there."

"It's possible spores could have floated through at some point while it was in use," Powers said. "A strong wind could blow them for miles."

"Or maybe some kind of natural portal opened up nearby?" Trigger theorized. "Wouldn't be the first time we've seen something like this. Remember--"

"Assuming anything about this story is true," Lawson interjected. Powers seemed like he was about to protest, but Lawson interrupted him before he did. "Though I admit, it's a bit too convoluted for a lie. What I don't understand is why you didn't say anything to your 'counselors' earlier about this." She narrowed her eyes at Vee. "You said you knew these plants could have been harmful."

"I was afraid," Vee said, glancing downward in shame. "Of getting them in trouble. Masha said weed was illegal. I'm sorry, I was so stupid..."

"They never would have been in trouble," Powers said. "Despite how we act at times, we aren't the police. However, you aren't dumb for what you did, Vee, and you still showed up to watch over your friends." He looked towards Lawson in particular. "Not to mention was brave enough to come to us when things went wrong."

"Yeah, what a monster," Trigger said sarcastically. "A real menace to society, this one."

"Drop it," Lawson snapped.

"No, I ain't 'dropping it'," Trigger grunted. "Cus I've been thinking."

"That's a first," Powers said.

Trigger rolled his eyes, but ignored him otherwise. "I just kind of think it's funny we're just straight-up locking a kid away - no matter how cushy the jail is - while there's so many humans out there who have earned a lot worse."

"You both can vote if you want to change that sort of thing," Lawson said. "Vee may not be a criminal that we know of, but as I said, she is dangerous, or at least potentially so."

'I'm right here...' Vee grumbled to herself.

"Can you imagine what someone like her could do if she, say, infiltrated the government?" Lawson continued. "Replaced a member of Congress? An oligarch? A general? Not acceptable. We need to contain and study this specimen. Just in case we run into more like her."

"Noticing you've started calling her a she," Powers said. "And I'm highly skeptical of the idea of Vee's species operating in that way."

Lawson shook her head in disappointment. "You're one of our better agents, Powers, but this passive attitude you're developing is going to end up costing you a promotion at this rate."