Dite's Decadent Delights, Saturday Evening

[spin_kick_snap]

After hanging out with Raven for a few hours that afternoon, Kathy headed into town to get a little more work done at Dite's. She wasn't sure she was actually accomplishing very much, but it at least felt like she was making progress on something and that felt almost as good as her evenings in the warehouse. She'd gone back the night before and it had been just as good as the first time, finally feeling truly alive as she'd dodged and punched and kicked.

Her face had avoided getting any new bruises--and the ones from Wednesday were carefully covered by makeup any time she left her room--but a couple of the body shots she'd taken had her moving a little more carefully than usual. Still, every flare of pain when she moved too fast or bent too far was another note in the sensory orchestra that reminded her that she was still a living girl who dreamed about being a zombie and not a zombie dreaming about being alive. That distinction was important.

She fired off a few texts to Anders in case he was feeling chatty and then set about opening the delivery boxes and getting inventory up on the shelves. In the background, her computer played the Raptor News Network theme. Ever since Dante had told her that Bob Barbas was a demon, she'd been watching his show to get an idea of what he was like.

So far, all she'd gotten was that he would fit right in with Trump and his cronies. Which said a lot about the current administration, didn't it?

[For one, please!]

Comments

[not_every_mage]

Anders swore the air blue before turning to Kathy, his eyes wide.

"We have to get there and save him."

Grandiose? Sure. But it seemed like the only choice.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Where's my phone?" Kathy asked before diving towards the couch. "I've got the Portalocity app there, we can get some tickets! Maybe we can arrive there before it's too late?"

Except they always ended up near the carnival on the boardwalk and that was so far away from the hideout...

[not_every_mage]

"We can try, anyhow," Anders said, rubbing at his chin. "Do you think I could find a map from the carnival to the studio?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Maybe?" Kathy said, quickly swiping through her phone. "We can--"

Suddenly, Barbas's eyes went big. He staggered away from the desk, looking like he'd just sucked down poison.

"Breaking news, Bob. You're fired," said someone off-screen.

Twin holes blossomed into red in Barbas's shirt. He grasped desperately for the one on his shoulder, but there was nothing he could do. Gasping, Barbas collapsed to the ground, the desperate camera crew rushing after him.

Then the camera clattered to the floor, pointing up. Near the back door, Dante materialized, blue energy arcing off his arms. Two large shuriken manifested themselves in his hands a moment later. He held them up.

Turned around. Stalked out of the studio.

"Oh shit," Kathy said.

[not_every_mage]

"Holy fuck," Anders agreed, frozen. (Dante had just killed someone on TV; demon or not, it was going to take him a minute to get his head around that. )"I don't think 'he was a demon' is a defense for murder in Limbo City. And what was that with his hands?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"I don't know," Kathy said, still staring at the screen. Not in horror, though. Her time in LA had apparently inured her to death. "It's not his new rocky hands, though. Those were something else."

[not_every_mage]

Anders gave her a puzzled look. He hadn't heard about the rock hands, either.

"When he gets home," he said finally, "I'm going to have to have a long talk with him about all his fun new powers."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You should," Kathy said. "There are a lot. He was showing them to me in Baltimore."

The scene in the newsroom, complete with Bob Barbas' corpse, had been replaced by the Raptor News Network's title card and theme music. Kathy killed the stream, unplugging her laptop to bring it over to the couch. "C'mon," she said. "We should eat while we figure out what we should do."

They wouldn't be much use to Dante distracted by empty stomachs.

[not_every_mage]

"Right," Anders said, without much appetite. He passed the tofu tacos over to Kathy and unwrapped his chicken.

He didn't bother with the guacamole.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy reached over and settled her hand on his. "He'll get them out okay," she said. "And he'll be okay. And we'll get there as soon as we can and you'll be able to make sure there's not a scratch on him."

[not_every_mage]

"And then what?" Anders asked, glancing to her. "He's on television killing someone, Kathy. He has a hard enough time in Limbo City as it is, without being wanted for murder and terrorism."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I don't know," Kathy admitted. "But if they kill Mundus, then maybe he can leave that world entirely and not have to worry about getting dragged back by demons."

It worked for Sparkle, anyway.

[not_every_mage]

"We can hope, anyhow," Anders said, with a small sigh. "I guess we should eat first, get him out second, and then worry about what comes next."

[spin_kick_snap]

"That sounds like the best idea," Kathy said, echoing his sigh. "Focus on what we can do first." She took a meditative bite of her taco. "Sucks, though."

[not_every_mage]

"No kidding," Anders said, around a bite of taco that might as well have been sawdust. "I'm glad you're back, at least. I don't know what I'd be doing if it was just me."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy finished her first taco and didn't reach for another. It was hard enough for her to eat normally these days, eating when her stomach was twisted in knots with worry was damn near impossible.

"I am, too," she said. "I'm just sorry I--" Her voice cracked and she shook her head. "I am too, she repeated and left it at that."